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Round 4

Round 4 Matchup 1 of 4
Your Prediction
53%
vs
Your Prediction
47%
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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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 4 Matchup 2 of 4
Your Prediction
51%
vs
Your Prediction
49%
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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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 4 Matchup 3 of 4
Your Prediction
45%
vs
Your Prediction
55%
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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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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Round 4 Matchup 4 of 4
Your Prediction
30%
vs
Your Prediction
70%
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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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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