Team:ETH Zurich

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 invented CATE, the first all-in-one living cancer therapeutic with an integrated two-step safety mechanism.

That's why we created CATE: Cancer-Targeting E. coli. A living cure to a living disease.

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CATE consists of the non-pathogenic bacterium E. coli Nissle that has the intrinsic ability to home specifically in tumors.

It features two safety checkpoint mechanisms to ensure only tumor cells are damaged.

Description
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.

The high density of bacterial cells and the overproduction of lactate by the tumor together activate the first steps of CATE.

Design