Genetics and Health

Genetically Engineered Immune System Cells

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on February 27th, 2007

The latest issue of New Scientist has a story that reminds me of Michael Crichton’s Next in which one of the main characters naturally produces super-cytokines which are able to attack cancer cells. The man’s tissues are subsequently procured and owned by a biotech company so they can mass produce the super-cytokines. Anyhoooo, Dan Jones wrote about genetically engineering immune system cells for treating tumors, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and auto-immune diseases.

• Cancer vaccines that use modified cytotoxic T-cells. The T-cells can then target specific cell types, e.g., the MART-1 protein on melanoma cells or mutant p53 on tumor cells.
• HIV vaccines where B-cells are genetically engineered to produce specific anti-HIV antibodies. This approach could also work to treat malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis.
• Modifying cells to rein in autoimmune attacks on the self in diseases such as type 1 diabetes and to aid in organ transplants.

The possibilities are endless but there are still safety and cost concerns to overcome. Nothing’s perfect, though, and having more treatment options is always a good thing.

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Tags: genetics, genome, genetic engineering, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, medicine, cancer, immune system

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POSTED IN: Genetic Engineering