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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		How engineering synthetic receptors may boost immunotherapy
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:01
	Publish Date:		2017-01-05 18:00:00
	Description:		Smarter T-cells that can effectively fight cancer may be the key to successful immunotherapy. Molecular scientist Wendell Lim of the University of California, San Francisco, has engineered synthetic receptors, called syn-Notch receptors, that can not only recognize tumors, but also produce molecules that can suppress cancerous microenvironments in the body. "The syn-Notch receptors are kind of a universal sensing platform that allows us to program the T-cells with many kinds of input/output responses. So it really allows us to treat the T-cell much like the way you would program a robot that can sense whether there are obstacles in front of it." Lim says scientists are testing these highly efficient multi-pronged T-cells in labs, but they may be available for patients within the next couple of years. "I think we can really transform what cancer therapy is like." Lim also hopes that smart T-cells will target cancers that can’t currently be treated with immunotherapy.
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