University of Saskatchewan microbiology Professor Wei Xiao discovered how to trigger the protein combination called 9-1-1 in a finding that's been called a breakthrough in cancer research that could possibly lead to better cancer diagnosis through targeting defective genes.

Xiao and a team of graduate students found a process that can be used to activate the 9-1-1 protein complex, warning cells to stop dividing with damaged DNA that leads to cancer.

"It has been known for many years that 9-1-1 was important, but scientists did not know how it was turned on," said Xiao."We figured out how 9-1-1 is actually activated when cells face carcinogens."

The next step toward developing diagnostic tools and drug treatments is to test whether Xiao's model, which used genes from baker's yeast that have counterparts in people, can apply to human cells as well.

The study appears in the journal Cell and will be presented this summer at Britain's Oxford University during the Gordon Research Conference on Mutagenesis.