Scientists mimicked one of cancer’s sneaky tricks to create a drug that promises to prevent a serious side effect of cancer treatment — radiation damage — or offer an antidote during a nuclear emergency.

A single dose of the experimental drug protected both mice and monkeys from what should have been lethal doses of radiation, researchers report in Friday’s edition of the journal Science. A study to see if the compound is safe in people could begin as early as this summer. Read the rest of this entry »