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Cancer sucks.

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But what's worse
is beating cancer.

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Only for it
to come back.

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This happens
all too often

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and is devastating

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to patients
and their families.

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Our lab studies
chronic lymphocytic

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leukemia, or CLL,

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which is the most
common adult

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leukemia in
the United States.

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Cancer coming back
and developing

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resistance
to medicine

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is extremely common
in this leukemia,

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because
it's incurable,

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and we need better
ways to treat it.

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In CLL.

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It has been

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extremely effective
to target

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a protein called

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BTK, which is stuck

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in the always
on position

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and acts
by turning on

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other proteins

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that help the cancer
grow and survive.

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Thus far, targeting
BTK has been done

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with inhibitors,

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but although
there are effective,

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BTK can mutate

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and prevent

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these inhibitors
from working.

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I like to think
of this

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interplay between
proteins, inhibitors

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and mutations
with Pac-Man.

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Imagine that Pac-Man
and panel

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A is a protein
helping

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cells be cancerous,
like BTK in CLL.

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Inhibitors
can be thought of

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as pieces of pi

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that fit
into pac-man's

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mouth,

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prevent him
from eating,

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and stop him

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from wreaking havoc
within our cells.

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But what if Pac-Man
grows teeth?

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Well, I can panel

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B well,

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the Pi won't fit,

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and he stays
on the attack.

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Pac-Man's teeth
can be thought of

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as mutations in BTK

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that prevent
inhibitors

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from binding

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and cause
drug resistance.

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But because we know

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that stopping
Pac-Man from eating,

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or really BTK
from working

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is extremely
effective,

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we need new ways to

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target and stop BTK.

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My project
is the first

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to explore molecular
glues in CLL,

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which are a type
of protein

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degrader
that might help 

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overcome
this resistance.

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They work

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by interacting
with Pac-Man,

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gluing him
to our cells

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natural
recycling systems,

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leading
to his destruction.

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But what about
Pac-Man's teeth?

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Well,

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the best part

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about our molecular
glue is

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they don't need to

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fit into Pac-Man's
mouth.

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They just need
to smell

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like delicious pie

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to lure Pac-Man

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to the
recycling centers

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where he can be
destroyed.

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Like in panel C,

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we think that
because

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our molecular glue
avoids

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pac-man's teeth,
or really

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because it
degrades BTK

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even in the presence
of mutations,

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that it will stop
BTKs function

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better than any of

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the current
therapeutics

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and overcome
drug resistance.

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This will not only

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bring new medicine

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and hope
to CLL patients,

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but also the other
patients who

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suffer from cancers
that use

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BTK inhibitors
and experience

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drug resistance.

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So let's stick it
to cancer

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and bring molecular
glues

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to the front
line of medicine.