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Golden particles join a DNA strand.

Precision gene editing

MIT News

September 17, 2025

Robert Langer, Phillip Sharp, and research scientist Vikash Chauhan developed an engineered prime editing system, reported in Nature, that reduces unintended DNA changes by up to 60-fold. The new gene editor could make it easier to explore cell biology questions, such as how populations of cancer cells evolve, as well as develop gene therapy treatments for cancer and other diseases.

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Time to Face the Mucus

MIT News

March 19, 2021

Irvine Lab researchers are building an army of T cells ready to fight disease in the respiratory tract. The inhalable vaccines use the naturally occurring protein albumin to carry immune response-generating antigens into the mucosal lining of lungs and lymph nodes, where soldier T cells learn to recognize and fend off unwanted intruders. In a study published in Science Immunology and funded in part by the Bridge Project and the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, researchers observed a 25-fold increase in T cell response over traditional muscular injections. Ultimately, the team aims to develop vaccines that protect against both viruses and cancer, and combat metastasis by priming the mucosal lining in key organs to reject invading cancer cells. The technology has been licensed by Elicio Therapeutics, which will begin clinical testing of an albumin-binding vaccine later this year.

A Field Guide to Cancer Progression

Whitehead Institute

March 11, 2021

Tag along with the Whitehead Institute’s “Cells Over Time” series to explore key moments of cancer progression. First stop: Jaenisch Lab, where chimeras shed new light on the cellular origins of neuroblastoma. In collaboration with the Spranger Lab, the researchers investigate how newly formed cancer cells “trick” immune cells into not destroying them. Spranger Lab technologies are also being used in the Weinberg Lab to understand the changes that occur when breast cancer cells become metastatic and acclimate to far-flung homes. Of course, this whirlwind tour would not be complete without a visit to the Weissman Lab where researchers have adapted a lung cancer model developed by the Jacks Lab to analyze gene expression as tumors evolve. Together, these intrepid explorers are charting a way forward in cancer biology.

Scientific Modeling

Chemical & Engineering News

March 11, 2021

Paula Hammond guest edits C&EN’s 2021 Trailblazers issue, highlighting the achievements of Black chemists and engineers in their own voices. Amid the reflections on past and present research, accomplishment and inclusion, career origins and evolutions, don’t miss Hammond’s own profile, tracing her path from young nerd to nanomaterials pioneer.

The Companies They Keep

MIT News

March 11, 2021

The Future Founders Initiative is off and running, making important strides to increase the number of woman-founded companies in biotech. Led by KI members Sangeeta Bhatia and Harvey Lodish, the initiative builds on Bhatia's recent work with Susan Hockfield and Nancy Hopkins around gender disparities in entrepreneurship, focusing on networking and community building.

Breaking Through Cancer: Collaborative translational research goes nationwide

MIT Koch Institute

March 11, 2021

Break Through Cancer announced its formal launch as a public foundation designed to find new solutions to the most intractable challenges in cancer. Led by Dr. Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and Founding Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Break Through Cancer will fund and support collaborative research teams drawn from several of the country’s top cancer centers.

Behind the Vaccines

MIT Technology Review

March 11, 2021

Beneath every great biotech innovation lies many years of research. KI members Phil Sharp and Robert Langer reflect on the early days of RNA discovery and innovation in a Tech Review feature by MIT President Rafael Reif, profiling the Institute’s contributions to Moderna’s “overnight” success developing an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. Both Sharp’s work on mRNAs and Langer’s on lipid nanoparticles began in the 1970’s. Similarly, both play an increasingly important role in human health, advancing new tools to fight COVID, cancer and other diseases.

Next Stop KRAS

Elicio Therapeutics

March 11, 2021

The FDA approved biotech startup Elicio will begin clinical testing of their “hitchhiking” therapeutic vaccine candidate designed to target mutated KRAS cancers using the Irvine Lab's signature lymph node targeting technology. The trial will enroll patients with mKRAS+ pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and other solid tumors.

Inside an Immune Response

Science Immunology

March 11, 2021

Working with collaborators to collect longitudinal samples during clinical trials of a new treatment technique for brain hemorrhage, the Love and Shalek Labs have published a new study in Science Immunology illuminating immune activity in acute injury. The team’s data show an evolution of macrophages, a type of immune cell, from a pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory state. The researchers also saw metabolic shifts, and found glycolytic metabolism—normally seen in cancer cells—in the macrophages was associated with better patient outcomes. These types of transitions in macrophage inflammation and metabolism are also known to be important in cancer, for which these findings provide additional insights and reference points.

Progress Against Prostate Cancer Proceeds

Cardiff Oncology

March 11, 2021

Positive data continue to emerge from Phase II clinical trials in advanced prostate cancer of a synergistic drug combination identified by the Yaffe Lab. Fine-tuning the dosing schedule more than doubled the percentage of patients whose cancer stabilized or responded positively to treatment. Ongoing biomarker research in the Yaffe Lab has revealed genetic mutations that may help clinicians predict treatment response to the combination and support efficient design of future trials. This trial and related research have been funded in part by the Bridge Project and the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine.

New Immunotherapy Target in Glioblastoma

Cell

March 11, 2021

A new paper in Cell from a Bridge Project team working on brain cancer sheds light on how gene expression in T cells affects response to immunotherapy in tumors called gliomas. Single-cell RNA sequencing approaches developed in the Regev Lab highlighted the role of KLRB1. Silencing this gene in cell and animal models enhanced T cell killing of glioma cells, suggesting its utility as an immunotherapy target.