Cancer-fighting protein is built, sans toxic side effects

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a molecule that amps up immune cells to fight off infections. While it is effective, the problem with IL-2 is that it causes a lot of toxicity in patients. Researchers at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine created a molecule that's a "better version" of IL-2, one where those side effects are mediated.

"In this specific case, we believe this drug has considerable promise as a cancer therapy and we’re hoping to get in the clinic in a few years and when it gets there hopefully it can save lives," says David Baker, director of IPD.

He discusses the impact of these findings and what's next for furthering this research. See the news release here.