Event 2: The l.a.s.t. Dialogues

The second event I attended this quarter was online(via Zoom) and was titled “The l.a.s.t. Dialogues” (life art science tech). This event was hosted by Pietro Scaruffi at Stanford University. This event had multiple speakers who discussed a variety of topics relating to art, technology, science, and history. The speaker I found the most interesting was Ravi Mejeti, who has made some pretty amazing developments in the search for a cure for cancer. 

The first speaker was Ravi Mejeti, who studies stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. In Meteji’s discussion, he focused on his research on Stem cells and Reprogramming in Human Acute Leukemia. Leukemia is a form of cancer that is often very aggressive and needs extensive treatments to be cured. One known treatment is a bone marrow transplant, which is when healthy cells are implanted into a patient's body to replace bone marrow. This procedure is very complex and taxing on the patient's body. Meteji has been developing a new way to treat aggressive cancers such as leukemia, in ways that won't be as depleting to the patient. One way is through Cellular Reprogramming, which is displayed in the image below which was used in Meteji’s presentation. The leukemia cells are taken out of the body and converted into cells that are no longer able to produce leukemia. When these cells are put back into the body, it is possible to train the body to not produce the cancer cells. 

  

The process of Cellular Reprogramming.

Another concept discussed by Meteji was cancer vaccination. Though cancer Vaccination has been attempted, the process is inefficient. The vaccinations try to identify the cancer cells and eliminate it. Unfortunately, this leaves room for error and other health issues because the immune system needs to be trained and regulated so that no auto-immune disease develops. The current vaccine used for cancer isn’t a promising treatment and should only be used with other treatments as well. Meteji’s idea was to administer the vaccine before the development of cancer. Instead of administering the vaccine when cancer has already developed. Similar to other vaccines such as the flu shot.

The current approach to cancer vaccination. 

Image of a mouse being injected with vaccination.

Meteji briefly discussed how these methods are being tested. Currently, cell reprogramming and vaccinations are being tested on mice, which is a topic discussed during the MED-TECH week of this class. Although the topic of animal testing is highly controversial, I believe that Meteji’s findings are making it well worth it. The past trials how shown that his developments have improved and even cured multiple different types of cancer. Even includes Sarcoma, which is another highly aggressive, formerly incurable type of cancer. Although I find animal testing inhumane, Meteji is making major developments. In one study run at Stanford University, scientists were able to eliminate tumors in mice through the cancer vaccine. Before listening to this presentation I had no prior knowledge of the topic of cancer and stem cell research, but it was very interesting to hear, and was hopeful for the future! 

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a screenshot of Ravi Meteji’s title page presented on Zoom. Here is the second speaker’s slide, Dr. Thomas O. Haakenson. As evidence I attended. 

Sources

Conger, Krista. “How We Use Animals - the Institute of Cancer Research, London.” The Institute of Cancer Research, www.icr.ac.uk/our-research/about-our-research/animal-research/animal-research-at-the-icr.

February 23, 2023, et al. “How Mrna Vaccines Might Help Treat Cancer.” National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2022/mrna-vaccines-to-treat-cancer. 

“How Scientists Reprogram Cells To Research Diseases: ISCRM.” Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, 1 Feb. 2021,https://iscrm.uw.edu/what-is-cell-reprogramming/.

News Center. “Cancer ‘vaccine’ Eliminates Tumors in Mice.” News Center, 31 Jan. 2018,https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/01/cancer-vaccine-eliminates-tumors-in-mice.html. 

“What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant (Stem Cell Transplant)?” Cancer.Net, 23 June 2021, www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/bone-marrowstem-cell-transplantation/what-bone-marrow-transplant-stem-cell-transplant.