MIT Engineers Reprogram NK Cells In-Situ for Cancer and Autoimmune Therapies

MIT engineers have pioneered a new method to reprogram natural killer (NK) immune cells directly within a patient's body to target cancerous or autoreactive T cells. This technique utilizes lipid nanoparticles to deliver messenger RNA to NK cells, enabling them to identify and destroy dysfunctional T cells implicated in conditions like lymphoma and autoimmune hepatitis. This innovation, published in Nature Biotechnology, could significantly reduce the cost and time associated with existing CAR NK cell therapies.