![CATE logo](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/d/d6/T--ETH_Zurich--LogoMinimal.png)
Cancer kills over 8 million people every year. That's the entire population of Switzerland!
We need more specific therapies because current approaches result in many side-effects.
That's why we created CATE: Cancer-Targeting E. coli.
Learn more![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/9/99/T--ETH_Zurich--CH.png)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/0/02/T--ETH_Zurich--Ec.png)
CATE consists of the non-pathogenic bacterium E. coli Nissle that has the intrinsic ability to home specifically in tumors.
We are engineering E. coli Nissle to carry a MRI contrast and a cytotoxic agent so it can deliver both components to tumor sites.
CATE is administered intravenously, travels through the blood and colonizes tumors where the bacteria form a highly dense layer between the live and dead zone of the tumor
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/8/8c/T--ETH_Zurich--ANDgate.png)
The high density of bacterial cells and the overproduction of lactate by the tumor together activate the first steps of CATE.
Design