When Michel Sadelain began his decades-long quest to genetically modify immune cells to fight cancer, his peers dismissed his ideas as absurd and even his mother grew concerned for his career.
On Thursday, the French and Canadian scientist was announced as a winner of the prestigious Breakthrough Prize for his pioneering work in CAR T-cell therapy, a new form of treatment that has shown exceptional efficacy against blood cancers.
"One thing I have to do is to throw a big party with all those who contributed," Sadelain said, laughing. He will split $3 million with American immunologist Carl June, who also led groundbreaking research into the field independently of his co-winner., fundamental physics and mathematics, styling itself as the Silicon Valley-backed answer to the Nobels. Founding sponsors include Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg.
Beyond recognizing the cancer, these Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells, as Sadelain named them, were also given genetic instructions to enter a killing mode and to multiply, growing an army inside the body to eliminate the enemy. Another risk is nervous system impairment, with symptoms such as deep confusion or inability to talk, although these clear up within days.
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