Johns Hopkins research scientist Jordan Green is working to alter—not just suppress—dysfunctional immune systems in ways that are proving to be more potent and more precise than current therapies, according to a new in-depth report published by The Associated Press.
Green is among the champions of this effort which The AP calls “a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and other devastating autoimmune diseases.” Several of their JHU colleagues are also featured by The AP in a photo essay showing how scientists are painstakingly decoding the root causes of autoimmune disease.
The story says the Green team is relying on “mRNA to instruct certain immune ‘generals’ to curb the bad T cells and send in more peacemakers” to create a treatment that can be injected like a drug. The idea is that the right immune cells will “divide, divide, divide and make a whole army of healthy cells that then help treat the disease,” Green says.