I’m wondering whether it would be possible to get an organism to “learn” to attack cancer cells. I’m thinking that if we could sensitize a fast-evolving virus (such as an HIV virus that has been stripped of its traditional payload) to tumor antigen, we could create an “evolve or die” environment where the virus would either:

a. Completely die out (then just try it again until it works),
b. Become desensitized to whatever it’s supposed to be sensitive to (likely),
c. Modify its environment to reduce the presence of the target module (could be bad), or
d. Destroy the cells that are emitting it.

Obviously, the fourth choice is what we want. If we could engineer a virus that seeks out and lyses cancer cells like HIV does T-cells, we would have a treatment model whose versatility can match that of the cancer itself.

Obviously, we do not want the immune system interfering in this, so we would perhaps need to tailor the viral capsid to the patient or give the patient immunosuppressants while undergoing treatment.

One day I’ll get the chance to test these hypotheses, but they can only exist as ideas until I have access to biological training and equipment… and I am unbound from other people’s research needs.