Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory had a recent breakthrough that could provide hope in the battle against breast cancer.

According to scientists, some forms of breast cancer actually originate in stem cells. Now, after three years of research, Dr. Gregory Hannon says he and two students figured out how to pick out and repress breast cancer stem cells in mouse tissue.

The team says it made the discovery after releasing something called microRNA Let-7, which is a gene-regulating molecule, into the mouse tissue.

Hannon said Let-7 was also able to quickly attack and eliminate the potentially deadly cells.

According to Hannon, while this is a great step forward in the breast cancer fight, there is certainly a long way to go.