Cancer-Killing Immune Cells Can Now Be Engineered in the Body—With a Vaccine-Like Shot of mRNA
1 min read
Summary
Scientists are investigating whether it is possible to create cancer-hunting immune cells within the human body, rather than having to engineer them outside the body, which is the current method.
Current CAR T-cell therapy involves extracting T cells from a patient and genetically engineering them to target specific tumour proteins.
This is effective, but the process is time-consuming and damaging to the cells, so an alternative is to send genetic instructions to the body to create CAR T cells inside the body.
Previous trials have tried using viruses and fatty “bubbles”, however, these tend to accumulate in the liver rather than the intended cells.
Now researchers have used mRNA, which is a biomolecule that translates DNA instructions into cellular functions, and which does not change a cell’s DNA blueprint.
In rodents and monkeys, a few jabs converted T cells to CAR T cells within hours, which went on to kill cancer cells, and the effects “reset” the animals’ immune systems and lasted for roughly a month with few side effects.
