Synthetic biology redirects oncogenic signaling against cancer

Stanford scientists have used synthetic biology to turn cancer cell signaling against tumors by harnessing EGF receptor signaling instead of inhibiting it, and might spin out a company to develop the technology.

The Stanford University team’s technology, dubbed Rewiring of Aberrant Signaling to Effector Release (RASER), selectively kills EGFR- and HER2-positive cancer cells by triggering a therapeutic payload, without targeting the receptors themselves. Michael Lin, an author on the team’s paper in Science this month, told BioCentury RASER could have greater efficacy than antigen-targeting compounds or immunotherapies. Lin is a principal investigator at Stanford...