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Gene therapy gets the body to attack cancer

By Nicola Jones

21 December 2002

AN ARMY of immune cells that can punch through the defences of tumours has been created by genetic engineering. The method could soon be tested in people.

“If you have cancer, and you’re a mouse, then I can cure you,” says Chung Lee of Northwestern University in Illinois. “Of course, there’s a big leap between mice and humans. But it seems logical that this strategy would work for people too.”

Most researchers trying to use the immune system to beat cancer focus on boosting the immune response. That can have a dramatic effect. But even if the body produces a…

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