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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Boosting the power of T-cells to fight cancer
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:02
	Publish Date:		2016-11-20 18:00:00
	Description:		One of the most important developments in science in the last couple of years has been engineering immune cells to fight cancer. But so far, the technique has not always been successful. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, are now trying to increase the power of immune white blood cells – called T-cells - to kill tumors. Molecular scientist Wendell Lim may have found a way. "What we have been developing is a new ways of programming t-cells so we can actually flexibly change their behavior." Lim says to achieve this, they have created microscopic robots that can move through the body and are now teaching them how to find cancer. "We have developed a new type of sensor molecule called synthetic notch receptor that we can put in these T-cells and their receptors can be programed to recognize molecules that are unique to cancer." The future of these molecules could not only help fight tumors, but also combat autoimmune diseases and other physical or mental disorders.
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