This research article provides the details of a current immunotherapy study performed by scientists at MIT. Immunotherapy is a relatively new and very promising cancer treatment that is now a focus of many cancer research labs. The article discusses what immunotherapy is, how T cell activation works, and how the treatment has eliminated some tumors in mice. As an interactive activity, students can practice making annotations in the margins of the article to check for understanding. Overall, students who read and dissect this article are learning how to comprehend complex biomedical research studies. As a supplemental activity, teachers can distribute the worksheet quiz posted in WISELearn. This set of questions (true/false, fill in the blank, multiple choice, short answer) assesses the students' comprehension levels of the current MIT immunotherapy research. An answer key is provided. The skills learned from investigating this article can hopefully be used to investigate other current biomedical research for human diseases and disorders.

This course is the scientific communications portion of course 7.02, Experimental Biology and Communication. Students develop their skills as writers of scientific research, skills that also contribute to the learning of the 7.02 course materials. Through in class and out of class writing exercises, students explore the genre of the research article and its components while developing an understanding of the materials covered in the 7.02 laboratory.