The Maya Forest on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico stands at the intersection of megaprojects and nature conservation. A new documentary film, SAKBE – Roads of Life in the Maya Forest, tells a story of biocultural diversity and about people, nature conservation and conflicts in an area where biodiversity is extraordinarily abundant. At the same time, the film offers a broader view of the future of the world’s supposedly remote regions.

JMIR Publications Launches New Article Rethinking AI Safety: Examining Large Language Models’ Role in Psychological Destabilization

A new framework informed by Stanford-led research and stakeholder convenings balances conservation with cultural heritage and sustainable resettlement of communities removed from an island chain decades ago. WATCH RELATED VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MbeynTX1kX4?embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwoods.stanford.edu%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE

Torpedo Bio, a Charleston-based biotechnology startup born from the research of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center scientist Leonardo M.R. Ferreira, Ph.D., earned one of the top awards at the first-ever Catalyst by Beemok Live Pitch Competition – securing $250,000 to advance a new approach to treating solid tumors. 

Torpedo Bio’s technology centers on regulatory T cells, or Tregs, which are normally the immune system’s brakes. Tumors exploit those brakes to protect themselves. Ferreira’s lab discovered that, when engineered with high-affinity, cancer-targeting receptors, Tregs can be reprogrammed into powerful cancer-killing agents. In preclinical models, these “Torpedo cells” succeeded where traditional CAR-T cells often fail: They penetrated solid tumors and successfully destroyed them. “We take T cells that used to be cancer’s best friend and turn them into its worst enemy,” Ferreira said.

In associate professor Mauro Tambasco’s lab, researchers at all levels work together to develop innovative approaches to fighting cancer.

By creating 3D models of tumors, the lab can better study the intricacies of these cancerous clumps of cells. Researchers form the tumor models with cutting-edge bioprinting technology, which produces standardized models with the properties and functions of real cells, allowing for a more realistic and accurate way to study and test treatments.