Critical Mass: Cancer Progression and Treatment Progress

March 26, 2019

Featuring:

Brian Pickering - “The Epitranscriptome: small marks with big effects”. Genes give our cells the instructions necessary for life are expressed as RNA, which then makes proteins, which provide the structure and carry out most of the chemistry in our cells. With advances in technologies, we have discovered small chemical modifications that decorate our RNA, informing how much protein to make and how long to stick around before being degraded. Cancer cells hijack this process to proliferate indefinitely and resist treatment. Brian’s research investigates these processes with the goal of developing a new generation of therapeutics to fight cancer.

Fanny Vatter - "Exosomes: tiny messengers for big discoveries". Exosomes are vehicles released from cells, carrying molecules. The contents of an exosome can be used as a biomarker to determine the health or disease of a cell. Fanny's research investigates the role of exosomes in breast cancer progression.

Wilhem Leconet - “Controlled delivery and targeting, future’s keywords in cancer therapy”. Wilhem's work focuses on a small therapeutic protein, named BiJ591, in prostate cancer. His research has provided new insights into the development of controlled delivery of small therapeutic proteins like BiJ591 in cancer, that once implemented, allow continued release of the therapeutic agent.