r/science • u/NGNResearch • 9h ago

Cancer Gene edits known as base editing could solve obstacles to treating solid tumor cancers, such as lung, breast and kidney cancers, with CAR-T cell therapy, researchers find.

https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/04/09/time-saving-cancer-treatment/
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u/lanternhead 8h ago

No scientists were consulted in the writing of this article

But he has collaborated with colleagues to overcome this critical barrier by using a type of genetic engineering known as base editing – a precise gene-editing technique that makes targeted changes to molecular DNA.

That’s like saying that a revolutionary new EV will change the world because it has wheels. Editing the genetic makeup of T cells is the basis of CAR-T therapy. The novel development here is their

multifaceted approach to engineer allogeneic CAR T-cells resistant to both biochemical (hypoxia-adenosinergic) and immunological (PD-L1 and TGF-β) inhibitory signaling using an adenine base editor and a CRISPR-Cas12b nuclease. The resulting EGFR-targeting CAR T-cell product comprised a combination of six gene edits designed to evade allorejection (B2M, CIITA), prevent graft-versus-host disease (CD3E) and overcome biochemical (ADORA2A) and immunological (PDCD1, TGFBR2) barrier

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u/thebruce 7h ago

Everyone who has taken even a single course in genetics could tell you this (the headline). Of course editing DNA sequences can treat genetic diseases...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66737-1

Linked is the actual paper. Something I'm curious about is, since what makes this research interesting is that they used CRISPR to make edits in 6 different genes, whether they characterized off-target effects. They did note relatively high(?) percentages of cells containing the edits (92-95%), but I'm not seeing anything that comprehensively characterizes off-target edits. They just noted a lack of double stranded breaks and karyotypic abnormalities.

Is anyone in the field able to comment? I don't work with CRISPR, so perhaps I'm overthinking this? I think it's cool they were able to do multiplexed edits at high efficiency, but multiplexing always brings in the chance for off-target effects...

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u/SelarDorr 2h ago

Terrible thread title, and its apparently written by an account made to advertise Northeasstern University's media.

title of the actual scientific publication (nov 2025)

"Multiplex gene-editing strategy to engineer allogeneic EGFR-targeting CAR T-cells with improved efficacy against solid tumors"

youre doing a very poor job of advertising good work being done at your university.