MIT chemical engineers have developed a way of swiftly screening compounds to determine their therapeutic potential for certain kinds of cancers. With a genetically engineered sensor and high-throughput technology, their method probes for changes in cellular concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a specialized molecule known as an oxidant. “The regulatory pathways of some tumors depend on elevated levels of H2O2,” says Hadley Sikes, associate professor and Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. “But further increases in concentrations of this oxidant can lead…
