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Round 3

Round 3 Matchup 1 of 8
Your Prediction
42%
vs
Your Prediction
58%
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT #1

VELCRO CANCER THERAPY

Cytokines such as interkeukins are immune system signaling proteins that have anti-tumor properties but are also highly toxic to healthy cells. Injecting cytokines into solid tumors has failed because they quickly leak into the body's circulation. Koch Institute researchers fused cytokines to a protein that binds to collagen, a molecule tumors have in abundance. This sharply reduced the leakage out of tumors and in mice, the fused cytokines enhanced the effectiveness of other cancer immunotherapies.

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Texas Heart Institute / Rice University

RESTORING HEART FUNCTION

After a heart attack, patients often develop scar tissue that can lead to dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities. Researchers at Texas Heart Institute and Rice University used thread-like carbon nanotube fibers to bridge across scar tissue in an effort to restore normal electrical activity. They sewed these fibers into the hearts of sheep with scarring like that from a heart attack, and the animals' electrical function improved, suggesting this approach might improve treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in people.

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Round 3 Matchup 2 of 8
Your Prediction
48%
vs
Your Prediction
52%
UC San Diego School of Medicine

PHAGE THERAPY FOR LIVER DISEASE

As many as 75% of patients die within 90 days of a diagnosis of severe alcoholic hepatitis, and a liver transplant is the only cure. UC San Diego researchers found that cytolysin — a toxin secreted by Enterococcus faecalis — kills liver cells, and people with alcoholic liver disease have more of these bacteria in their gut than healthy people. Mice colonized with bacteria from patients with alcoholic hepatitis developed the disease, but treatment with bacteriophages that target E. faecalis eliminated the bacteria and the disease.

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

BUBBLE BOY DISEASE

Using a novel gene therapy, a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital team appears to have cured eight babies born with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency, a disease that leaves infants without a functional immune system and is usually fatal by age 2 unless they qualify for a bone marrow transplant. After an average followup of 16 months, the treatment restored infants' immune function and wiped out existing infections.

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Round 3 Matchup 3 of 8
Your Prediction
50%
vs
Your Prediction
50%
University of Utah Health

DRUGGABLE DIABETES TARGET

University of Utah and Merck researchers made genetically engineered mice lacking an enzyme called dihydroceramide desaturase 1 (DES1), which prevented insulin resistance and fatty liver disease in animals fed fat-laden diets and reversed prediabetes in obese mice. The findings suggest this enzyme may be a possible target for human treatments for obesity, diabetes, and related conditions.

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center #1

ENGINEERED IMMUNITY

Nearly every vaccine works by coaxing B cells — a key component of the immune system — to make antibodies, but sometimes vaccines provide only partial protection, or none at all. Fred Hutchinson cancer center researchers demonstrated an alternative approach: Using CRISPR genome-editing, they inserted DNA blueprints for specific antibodies into B cells from mice and humans and showed they could produce antibodies against a range of viruses. B cells engineered to produce antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus provided potent, long-lasting protection in mice.

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Round 3 Matchup 4 of 8
Your Prediction
48%
vs
Your Prediction
52%
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University

3D-PRINTED ORGANS

Wyss Institute researchers developed a new technique to bioprint blood-vessel-like channels into mini-organs grown from induced pluripotent stem cells. They created batches of organ-specific tissues with high levels of oxygenation and function that survived for multiple days, and they hope to refine the technique to develop fully 3D-printed organs for transplant.

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University of Michigan

CHEMO-RESISTANT TUMORS

University of Michigan researchers demonstrated how pancreatic tumors neutralize the effects of gemcitabine chemotherapy, by attracting and manipulating macrophages. The mechanism may underlie resistance in other tumors, as well, and might help guide the choice of treatments for patients based on the levels of these susceptible macrophages in tumors.

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Round 3 Matchup 5 of 8
Your Prediction
50%
vs
Your Prediction
50%
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT

LIGHT AND SOUND THERAPY FOR ALZHEIMER'S

Brain wave stimulation using pulses of light and sound were associated with improved learning and memory in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, and prolonged visual stimulation prevented neuron death and preserved synaptic connections, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute showed. Based on these findings, human clinical trials of this non-invasive therapy began in 2019.

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Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

CRISPR ADVANCE

The discovery of "prime editing" expands the scope of the revolutionary CRISPR genome editing technology, giving it the capability to correct up to 89% ofl known genetic variants associated with human diseases. Prime editing can efficiently and precisely make targeted insertions, deletions, and all possible single-letter changes in DNA, and Broad Institute researchers demonstrated its utility by repairing the primary genetic causes of sickle cell and Tay-Sachs diseases.

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Round 3 Matchup 6 of 8
Your Prediction
50%
vs
Your Prediction
50%
Children’s National Hospital

NEW CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY

A type of cancer immunotherapy called tumor-associated antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells was shown by Children's National Hospital researchers to be safe in a first-in-human clinical trial in patients — mostly children — with solid organ tumors that didn't respond to previous treatments; 11 of 15 patients had stable disease or better 45 days after infusion, including 6 with progression-free survival after a median of 13.9 months.

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University of Michigan Depression Center

STRESS TEST

This study suggests that the first year of medical residency causes young doctors’ DNA to age six times faster than normal, with the largest effect among those whose training programs demand the longest hours. The study, by researchers at Michigan and Brown University, is the first to measure people's telomere length before and after a prolonged, intense experience. Telomeres are seen as an indicator of aging and disease risk, and the work suggests telomere length can serve as a biomarker for the effects of stress.

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Round 3 Matchup 7 of 8
Your Prediction
50%
vs
Your Prediction
50%
University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine #2

ATTACKING C. DIFF TOXIN

Researchers uncovered the three-dimensional structure of a toxin primarily responsible for Clostridium difficile infection and revealed how antibodies could neutralize the toxin, providing a blueprint for developing new drugs and vaccines. The UC Irvine-led team is now developing a novel vaccine based on the findings.

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Institute for Systems Biology

MICROBIOME HEALTH

Aiming to analyze how the makeup of the gut microbiome correlates with health and obesity, Institute for Systems Biology researchers found that certain metabolites in blood could predict the diversity of the microbiome, suggesting a blood test might be used to monitor the microbiome. Their early findings indicate that more diversity of gut bacteria may not always be the best and that there is a "Goldilocks zone" of gut flora diversity.

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Round 3 Matchup 8 of 8
Your Prediction
35%
vs
Your Prediction
65%
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center #2

NEW CANCER APPROACH

Close genetic analysis using CRISPR editing shows how 19 different mutations in a gene involved in processing DNA instructions into proteins led to faulty splicing and drove cancer growth in a variety of cancer types, including leukemia and solid tumors. Researchers from Fred Hutchinson and Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer centers developed a targeted antisense oligonucleotide that corrected the fault and caused tumors in mice to die off. The work shows the potential for using antisense therapy against cancer.

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Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT #2

SEEING TINY TUMORS

Ovarian cancer patients' survival depends on how much tumor can be removed, but tiny tumors often have spread so abundantly it’s difficult for surgeons to find and remove them. MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers developed an imaging system using a fluorescing nanotubule that binds a protein abundant in ovarian cancer cells, making it possible to see tumors smaller than a poppy seed in real-time so that they could be removed. Mice undergoing surgery with the imaging system survived longer than those receiving standard surgery. Human prototypes are under development.

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