London -- British scientists say they've identified the master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting immune cells.
Imperial College London researchers say their finding could help scientists boost the body's production of tumor-killing cells, creating new ways to treat cancer.
The researchers said they 'knocked out' the gene in question, known as E4bp4, in a mouse model, thereby creating the world's first animal model entirely lacking so-called natural killer cells, but with all other blood cells and immune cells intact.
Knocking out genes is a technique in which an organism is engineered to carry genes that have been made inoperative or "knocked out" of the organism, Wikipedia said.
