{"id":290948,"date":"2025-11-14T10:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T10:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/290948\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T10:40:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T10:40:32","slug":"scientists-are-using-sophisticated-technology-to-unravel-one-of-bodys-biggest-mysteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/290948\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists are using sophisticated technology to unravel one of body’s biggest mysteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

A peek inside some leading research labs shows how scientists-turned-detectives are painstakingly decoding what causes autoimmune diseases<\/a> and how to stop the immune system from attacking you instead of protecting you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a huge challenge. By the National Institutes of Health\u2019s newest count there are about 140 autoimmune diseases<\/a> affecting tens of millions of people.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been a person who loves puzzles and problem solving and the big picture of how people get sick. What I\u2019m explaining to my family is that I\u2019m a gene hunter. I could do back flips, inside that\u2019s how I feel when I can see something new. It\u2019s amazing. What I am studying, I feel it\u2019s a super exciting moment to be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. Laura Lewandowski, a pediatric rheumatologist and assistant clinical investigator at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

Unraveling them requires patience, persistence \u2014 and sophisticated technology to even see the suspects. Researchers use laser-powered machinery and brightly colored fluorescent dyes to tell rogue cells from normal ones.<\/p>\n

Take Type 1 diabetes, caused when cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are gradually killed off by rogue T cells. In a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University, researchers examine mouse pancreas cells on a computer screen. Red marks the killer cells. In yellow are \u201cpeacemaker\u201d cells that are supposed to tamp down autoimmune reactions \u2013 but they\u2019re outnumbered.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Research<\/p>\n

Research fellow Sachin Surwase poses for a portrait while examining a mouse pancreas tissue through a microscope in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Research fellow Sachin Surwase poses for a portrait while examining a mouse pancreas tissue through a microscope in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Sachin Surwase is part of a team developing possible new ways to treat Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, by reprogramming the immune system to protect and not harm insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.<\/p>\n

For me, it started with my grandmother, she died of cancer, so that was the motivation to work on these diseases. But then I got interested in autoimmunity. That fascinated me that why in one disease we need to increase the response of immunity but in others we need to suppress our own immunity. It\u2019s like a two-edged sword.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sachin Surwase, research fellow at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Justin Kwong, a research fellow, poses for a portrait as he removes cells from an incubator in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Dr. Justin Kwong, a research fellow, poses for a portrait as he removes cells from an incubator in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Justin Kwong coaxes human stem cells to grow into a kind of immune cell involved in autoimmune diseases, and has to replenish batches with fresh nutrients.<\/p>\n

These are my babies. It\u2019s very rewarding to do this. It\u2019s very exciting but difficult to manage. I have to come in every day to feed them. Seven days a week. That\u2019s why I have a personal attachment to the cells. It takes a lot of your life, like a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. Justin Kwong, a research fellow, at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Researcher<\/p>\n

Researcher Kathryn Luly poses for a portrait holding a plate of mice cell samples in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Researcher Kathryn Luly poses for a portrait holding a plate of mice cell samples in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Kathryn Luly is part of a team using mRNA technology to develop new treatments for autoimmune diseases. Cell tests show if the different formulas are reaching the correct targets.<\/p>\n

The thing that\u2019s really amazing about the immune system is that it\u2019s all this very unique balance. It\u2019s like a little bit of this is good, but too much is bad. So as an engineer, it\u2019s a very unique problem of trying to sort of thread the needle and find that balance between activation and suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Researcher Kathryn Luly at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. William Ambler, a translational research scholar who studies how biological sex affects the risk of autoimmune diseases, poses for a portrait while preparing a solution in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Dr. William Ambler, a translational research scholar who studies how biological sex affects the risk of autoimmune diseases, poses for a portrait while preparing a solution in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

I\u2019m fascinated in autoimmunity in general because the causes of it are so misunderstood. There is so much area to understand for treatment and hopefully prevention. What we\u2019re doing is very fundamental and has implications beyond autoimmunity. I do feel like we\u2019re at an inflection point of some sorts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. William Ambler, a translational research scholar who studies how biological sex affects the risk of autoimmune diseases at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Researcher<\/p>\n

Researcher Manav Jain poses for a portrait while pulling human T-cells from a liquid nitrogen storage tank in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025.(AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Researcher Manav Jain poses for a portrait while pulling human T-cells from a liquid nitrogen storage tank in a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025.(AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Manav Jain helps design biodegradable nanoparticles that could deliver new treatments for autoimmune diseases, making sure they\u2019re the right size to reach rogue immune cells in different parts of the body.<\/p>\n

I think the engineering thing that I feel was drilled into me from day one is thinking about identifying problems and then figuring out how to pinpoint what needs to be solved or improved upon. It\u2019s small baby steps that then amount to big steps. The field that I work in has moved quite fast. I think it\u2019s really exciting seeing what\u2019s coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Researcher Manav Jain at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Iago Pinal-Fernandez, a staff clinician, poses for a portrait while examining cells from a muscle biopsy in a light imaging lab at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Dr. Iago Pinal-Fernandez, a staff clinician, poses for a portrait while examining cells from a muscle biopsy in a light imaging lab at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Another type of immune cell, B cells, drive autoimmune diseases by producing antibodies that mistake healthy tissue for foreign invaders. At NIH, Dr. Iago Pinal-Fernandez studies myositis, a poorly understood group of muscle-weakening diseases. His research shows rogue antibodies don\u2019t just damage muscles by latching onto their surface. They can sneak inside muscle cells and disrupt their normal functions in ways that help explain varying symptoms.<\/p>\n

When I started, nothing was known about the type of autoimmune disease we study. Now finally we\u2019re able to tell patients, \u2018You have this disease and this is the mechanism of disease. And this is the reason why we\u2019re treating you \u2013 because the disease works in this way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. Iago Pinal-Fernandez, a staff clinician at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Staff<\/p>\n

Staff scientist Carmelo Carmona-Rivera poses for a portrait while working with antibodies used in autoimmunity research inside a cold room in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Staff scientist Carmelo Carmona-Rivera poses for a portrait while working with antibodies used in autoimmunity research inside a cold room in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

For me, I love helping people. In this lab, whatever I do can be translated to the patients. I really want to make a difference in how those patients are suffering. The key ingredient is passion. As long as you have passion, you will be able to persist to achieve your goal. In this lab we are applying so many groundbreaking techniques. I feel proud to be part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carmelo Carmona-Rivera, staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Researcher<\/p>\n

Researcher Kyle Kaeo poses for a portrait as he sterilizes a flask to prepare hampster cells for protein production in a lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Researcher Kyle Kaeo poses for a portrait as he sterilizes a flask to prepare hampster cells for protein production in a lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Kyle Kaeo is part of a team developing antibodies that could recognize faulty immune cells driving autoimmune diseases and help eliminate them.<\/p>\n

I pivoted from doing cancer research to autoimmunity. It kind of seems like this is the frontier of something new. It\u2019s very cutting-edge. You know, not a lot in this field, kind of like what we\u2019re doing now has been done before. So that was really attractive to me, kind of the novelty and the idea that this can change patient care from what it\u2019s been traditionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Researcher Kyle Kaeo at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Norio Hanata, a research fellow, poses for a portrait while diluting patient blood samples in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Dr. Norio Hanata, a research fellow, poses for a portrait while diluting patient blood samples in the lab where he works at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

As a rheumatologist in Japan, Norio Hanata saw a lot of patients with autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n

By doing this research we can overcome some unmet needs for the patients. We can know what we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. Norio Hanata, a research fellow, at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mariana Kaplan, a rheumatologist and autoimmunity researcher, poses for a portrait working with a cell sample on a microscope in her lab at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Dr. Mariana Kaplan, a rheumatologist and autoimmunity researcher, poses for a portrait working with a cell sample on a microscope in her lab at the National Institutes of Health, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

In another NIH lab, Dr. Mariana Kaplan\u2019s team is hunting the root causes of lupus<\/a> and other autoimmune diseases \u2014 what makes the immune system run amok in the first place \u2014 and why they so often strike women.<\/p>\n

No matter what I did, the diseases just progressed. I felt so impotent and frustrated about it, and so sad for them. The immune system in general fascinated me but this concept of autoimmunity and losing tolerance to yourself \u2013 what was causing this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Dr. Mariana Kaplan, a rheumatologist and autoimmunity researcher at the National Institutes of Health<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Research<\/p>\n

Research fellow Colin Gliech poses for a portrait while preparing to test cells in a lab where he studies autoimmune diseases at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Research fellow Colin Gliech poses for a portrait while preparing to test cells in a lab where he studies autoimmune diseases at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been really passionate about understanding how things work in biology. Immunotherapies have seen a lot of promise in the field of cancer and we\u2019ve seen a lot of success specifically with treating blood cancers. But that\u2019s by no means the only application for these really kind of exciting and new technologies. So I really see autoimmune diseases as one of those new frontiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Research fellow Colin Gliech at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Researcher<\/p>\n

Researcher Abigail McGahan poses for a portrait in the warm room of a lab before she leaves E. coli bacteria incubating in a petri dish overnight for antibody production at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Researcher Abigail McGahan poses for a portrait in the warm room of a lab before she leaves E. coli bacteria incubating in a petri dish overnight for antibody production at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., May 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Most treatments for autoimmune diseases broadly suppress the immune system. McGahan is part of a team developing new options to target just rogue immune cells, not healthy ones.<\/p>\n

I really enjoy the protein engineering aspect as in finding new tools to harness the immune system and this, I think, is, like, really close to having an impact in patients\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Researcher Abigail McGahan at Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s drugs tamp down symptoms but don\u2019t correct the problem. Now in early-phase clinical trials are treatments that instead aim to fix dysfunctional immune pathways.<\/p>\n

At Hopkins, scientists are working on next-generation versions, not yet ready to try in people. In one lab, they\u2019re developing nanoparticle-based treatment to dial down pancreas-killing cells in Type 1 diabetes and ramp up \u201cpeacemaker\u201d cells.<\/p>\n

And in another Hopkins lab, researchers are developing what they hope will become more precise treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other antibody-driven illnesses \u2013 drugs that search out and destroy \u201cbad\u201d B cells.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A peek inside some leading research labs shows how scientists-turned-detectives are painstakingly decoding what causes autoimmune diseases and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[793,97,152621,146737,146738,8640,8641,243,29938,79,795],"class_list":["post-290948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-general-news","tag-health","tag-iago-pinal-fernandez","tag-lupus","tag-mariana-kaplan","tag-maryland","tag-md-state-wire","tag-medication","tag-photo-essays","tag-science","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}