MicroRNA Molecule Prevents Skin Cell Proliferation

This article describes the findings of researchers from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases who discovered the molecule "microribonucleic acid-203". This molecule prevents skin cells from dividing. Reading with the grain, this discovery may be a big step towards treating skin cancer because skin cancer is caused by the skin cell division process going out of control. Reading against the grain, this discovery is not helpful as the molecule halts the process entirely, meaning that the person treated actually will not grow enough skin cells. This may be even worse that cancer as the mice in which the skin cell proliferation was halted died within a few days of birth. Furthermore, the testing of such treatments on living animals such as mice is immoral, especially because the mice were killed.