Our cells have the innate ability to protect us. The idea of using cells as medicine emerged with bone marrow transplants, and then CAR-T therapy for blood cancers. Now, scientists are beginning to engineer much more complex living therapeutics by tapping into the capabilities of living cells to treat a growing list of diseases.

The power of cellular therapy is being explored to halt and reverse disease, restore damaged organs, and, ultimately, cure many life-threatening conditions. Important advances in the understanding of disease biology and major innovations in gene editing, protein engineering and cell culture technology have created a highly fertile scientific environment in which cell therapy research is flourishing. 

We are talking to Dr. Lawrence Fong, Efim Guzik Distinguished Professor in Cancer Biology and Cancer Immunotherapy Program lead at UCSF about treatments and disease area focus, advantages of harnessing the power of cellular therapy, challenges faced, new initiatives and global awareness of these programs.