A treatment for cervical cancer that kills tumour cells but does not harm healthy ones has been developed in the UK. The researchers say the results are "absolutely remarkable".

The technique, called RNA interference (RNAi), works by knocking out two key genes in the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer. This effectively 'silenced' the virus.

The researchers, led by Jo Milner at the University of York, think HPV produces proteins that suppress the activity of genes in the human anti-cancer defence system. This would normally identify the start of cancer in a cell and trigger apoptosis - cell suicide.