Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A sickly mouse in a 1940s lab at Oak Ridge National Laboratory didn’t look like a breakthrough. But that unexpected mutation — known as scurfy — would eventually help unlock one of the immune system’s most important secrets.
In this episode of the Sound of Science, we trace the decades-long journey from ORNL’s early mammalian genetics program to the discovery of FOXP3, the gene that directs development of regulatory T cells — the immune system’s natural “brakes.” Featuring Nobel Prize winner Mary Brunkow, this story draws a throughline from post–World War II radiation studies at ORNL to modern breakthroughs in autoimmune disease and cancer immunotherapy.
ORNL is using #BigScience to make a big impact. Learn more: ornl.gov/bigscience
A sickly mouse in a 1940s lab at Oak Ridge National Laboratory didn’t look like a breakthrough. But that unexpected mutation — known as scurfy — would eventually help unlock one of the immune system’s most important secrets.
In this episode of the Sound of Science, we trace the decades-long journey from ORNL’s early mammalian genetics program to the discovery of FOXP3, the gene that directs development of regulatory T cells — the immune system’s natural “brakes.” Featuring Nobel Prize winner Mary Brunkow, this story draws a throughline from post–World War II radiation studies at ORNL to modern breakthroughs in autoimmune disease and cancer immunotherapy.
ORNL is using #BigScience to make a big impact. Learn more: ornl.gov/bigscience
