Cancer-killing vaccine may also prevent brain cancer January 4, 2023 -- Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists are harnessing a new method of turning cancer cells into potent, anti-cancer agents. Their new cell therapy approach to eliminating established tumors also trains the immune system to prevent cancer from recurring, providing long-term immunity. The NIH-funded study, published January 4 in Science Translational Medicine, showed promising results when the approach was tested on mice with glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer.Read More
Common genetic cause of late-onset ataxia revealed December 16, 2022 -- A Quebec-led international collaboration has discovered a previously unknown common genetic cause of late-onset cerebellar ataxia. The study, published December 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine, may potentially improve diagnosis and open new treatment avenues for thousands of people with this debilitating neurodegenerative condition worldwide.Read More
CRISPR system targets toxic RNA to improve Huntington's in mice December 14, 2022 -- Genome-editing CRISPR technology has reduced the toxic RNA that drives Huntington's disease in mice, providing preclinical proof of principle for a new way to treat the fatal neurodegenerative disorder, according to a study published on December 12 in Nature Neuroscience.Read More
Machine learning used to encode commands for immune cells December 9, 2022 -- Researchers at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), in collaboration with a team at IBM Research, have developed a virtual molecular library of thousands of “command sentences” for cells, based on combinations of “words” that guide engineered immune cells to seek out and kill cancer cells without pausing.Read More
Scientists uncover viral vectors that cross the blood-brain barrier November 23, 2022 -- Using a "directed-evolution" strategy in mice and macaques, scientists at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard have identified adeno-associated viruses that cross the blood-brain barrier, advancing efforts to develop neurological disease gene therapies.Read More