Targeting cancer from many angles
Since the discovery of the first cancer-causing genes in the 1960s, scientists have uncovered at least 600 genes that contribute to tumor development. Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and director of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, has spent much of his career trying to unravel the roles of some of these genes, in hopes of designing better cancer treatments. “The challenge is to figure out the contribution of all of those different genes. If you can figure out what’s driving a cancer, you can potentially develop a drug that will help to inhibit it,” Jacks said during yesterday’s James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture. Jacks received this year’s Killian Award not only for his work in cancer genetics but also for his leadership of MIT’s cancer research community. “Professor Jacks is described by colleagues as a bold and visionary leader,” reads the award citation. “His...