Famous for preventing cancer, the p53 protein may also keep cancer-fighting cells from tiring out

Engineered immune-cell therapies can be spectacular — and then fade, as the T cells exhaust themselves fighting. Joseph Crompton's team at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center tried an unlikely refresher: briefly switching on p53, the protein best known as the genome's guardian against cancer, while the cells are being prepared in the lab. Using a drug called navtemadlin at carefully low doses, the treated human T cells kept more energy in reserve, showed fewer signs of exhaustion, and killed melanoma cells in lab dishes far more effectively than untreated cells — a result published in Frontiers in Immunology. No new genetic engineering was needed, which is what makes the trick attractive: it could slot into how these therapies are already made.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation