The master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting “Natural Killer” (NK) immune cells has been identified as E4bp4 by researchers at Imperial College London, UCL and the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research by knocking the gene out in a mouse model.

The model, which produced no NK cells, will allow medical researchers to discover if NK cell malfunction is behind a wide range of medical conditions, including autoimmune disorders, inflammatory conditions, persistent viral infections, female infertility and graft rejection.

The researchers are hoping to progress with a drug treatment for cancer patients that reacts with the protein expressed by their E4bp4 gene, causing their bodies to produce a higher number of NK cells than normal to increase the chances of successfully destroying tumors.