Enzyme from Archaea Found in Siberian Oil Well Will Help Treat Cancer and Reduce Carcinogens in Food

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Together with colleagues from the Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, biologists from the Research Center of Biotechnology RAS have studied a new L-asparaginase from hyperthermophilic archaea Thermococcus sibiricus. These archaea live at a depth of more than two thousand meters in a high-temperature oil reservoir in Siberia. This biotechnologically important enzyme is used in the food industry, in the development of biosensors, and in medicine due to its antitumor activity. L-asparaginase from T. sibiricus was described for the first time by the authors of this research. This enzyme differs from the previously described analogs by its increased stability and selective toxicity to cancer cells.