CANCER cells that make a faulty version of a protein called p53
could in future be signing their own death warrants, if a
treatment developed in the Netherlands fulfils its early
promise. More than half of all human cancers make the defective
protein. Healthy p53 helps prevent unwanted cell division, so
when it becomes defective a tumour often forms. But Hans Nijman
and his team at the Free University Hospital in Amsterdam have
made immune system killer T cells that recognise and destroy
cells making defective p53. The T cells have already been used
to cure mice with tumours that make abnormal p53. T cells
constantly "sniff" the cells they encounter to check whether
they pose a danger to the body. Our cells display fragments of
the proteins they contain. Those that are infected with a virus
or bacterium display fragments of the invader's proteins, and
are destroyed. Nijman and ... To continue reading this article,
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