Immunoengineering

Our immune system can protect us from pathogens (disease causing organisms). One type of immune cell, the T cell, uses specialized sensors, called receptors, to identify harmful pathogens and target them for destruction.

Cellular engineers would like to re-engineer T cells to target cancer cells. Because cancer cells look very similar to our healthy cells, it’s hard for T cells to correctly identify them on their own. For the treatment to be successful, the T cells must identify cancer cells without accidentally attacking the patient’s healthy cells. If T cells accidentally attack healthy cells, it will affect the function of the patient’s healthy cells and result in an autoimmune disease.

In order to create a cancer-fighting immune system, cellular engineers have created a new receptor. This receptor, when attached to a patient’s T cells, help the T cells correctly identify cancer cells, while leaving the normal cells alone. This treatment would turn a patient’s immune system into a cancer-fighting machine.

Programming Challenge:

Program your robot to act as an engineered T cell. Use the color within the ‘engineered receptor’ to identify the same color within the ‘body.’

Requirements:

The robot should scan the ‘body’ to look for the cancer cell (with the same color as the ‘engineered receptor’), and signal when a cancer cell is detected (by making a sound or other noticeable alert). But it must not signal for any other cell (any other color), as this would mean the body has developed an autoimmune disease. (Please note that the color of the engineered receptor will be selected at random. The location of cells within the "body" may also change.)

Bonus challenge:

Destroy the cancer cell by removing it from the boundaries of the "body".

Challenge Mat Materials:

1 challenge mat (see above)

1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green pompom ("engineered receptor" selected at random by instructor)

3 red, 3, yellow, 3 green pompoms ("body cells" placed at random inside the challenge mat's black box or "body")

SIM Background Download Here (png)

SIM Background Download Here (jpeg)

Questions to guide your reading:

What is immunoengineering?
How can we engineer immune cells to target disease elements (e.g. cancer cells, pathogens)?
What are the advantages and limitations of immunotherapy compared to standard therapeutics?
What is the importance of the specificity of receptor binding in designing immunotherapy?
Are there immunotherapy treatments currently in use?