Clone to Cure

The Kirak lab is interested in the long-standing question why our immune system attacks benign cells in autoimmune diseases, such as type-I diabetes, but fails to eliminate malignant cells in cancer. Dr. Kirak has pioneered Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT or NT, also known as "cloning") to develop and study novel mouse models of our immune system. Using these novel and more physiological NT models, the goal of the Kirak lab is to better understand this question, to identify novel mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases and cancer, and to develop new therapeutics.

"It ain't what we don't know that troubles us,
it's what we know that just ain't so!"
                                                         Mark Twain or Josh Billings