NIDCR's Fall 2018 E-Newsletter is now available.

In this issue:

Science Advances

Many cancer researchers look for ways to stop the growth of cancer. J. Silvio Gutkind, PhD, is trying a different angle. He aims to piece together the steps needed to build a cancer—specifically head and neck cancer. “If I can build it, I can understand it,” says Gutkind, a long-time NIDCR intramural researcher now at the University of California, San Diego. With NIDCR support, Gutkind and his team will use genetic engineering in normal oral stem cells to express different combinations of mutated molecules, hoping to land on the exact formula that will cause the cells to develop cancerous features. Such knowledge may ultimately point to improved options for preventing or slowing cancer progression.