Los Angeles, Jan. 18 -- Scientists have developed a new technique to turn pluripotent stem cells -- which can give rise to every cell type in the body -- into mature T cells capable of killing tumours.

The technique developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US uses structures called artificial thymic organoids, which work by mimicking the environment of the thymus, the organ in which T cells develop from blood stem cells.

T cells are cells of the immune system that fight infections, but also have the potential to eliminate cancer cells.

The ability to create them from self-renewing pluripotent stem cells using the new technique could lead to new approaches to cancer immunotherapy, according to ...