Scientists engineer immune cells to better fight cancer and viruses

This story originally appeared in the JC’s Israel Briefing newsletter. You can sign up to receive the free daily briefing here Israeli scientists have engineered immune cells that appear to better fight cancer and viruses, in research that could pave the way for new treatments for a variety of conditions. Researchers at Bar-Ilan University, in Ramat Gan, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, successfully developed an enhanced T-cell receptor, a key component of the immune system that enables T cells – cells that help the immune system to fight infections and abnormal cells – to recognise and attack diseased cells. The researchers used computational methods to identify mutations that could improve the receptor’s stability and function, and then created an enhanced receptor, called SET (Structurally Enhanced TCR), introducing it into genetically engineered T cells, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.