Targeting Zombie DNA to Combat Kidney Cancer

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The DNA of every person alive today contains genetic material from ancient viruses that infected our distant ancestors long ago. Normally, this viral DNA remains inactive, but in some cases of kidney cancer, it comes back to life like a zombie resurrected from the grave. Stefan Barisic, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institutes of Health, is working on a way to teach the immune system to recognize this reanimated viral DNA and attack kidney cancer cells that harbor it while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Click here to learn more about the research being done in Stefan’s lab.

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This page was last updated on Monday, August 7, 2023