U.S. scientists have developed ultra-thin films composed of water-soluble polymers that might be used in gene therapy.
March 27, 2007 (Press Release) --
U.S. scientists have developed ultra-thin films composed of water-soluble polymers that might be used in gene therapy.
The idea of using genetic instructions rather than drugs to treat disease has never become a viable therapeutic method for several reasons. But one sizeable hurdle is getting the right genes into the right place at the right time.
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are developing a tool to tackle that problem. David Lynn and colleagues have created nanoscale films that allow controlled release of DNA from surfaces. When used to coat implantable medical devices, the films offer a novel way to route useful genes to exactly where they could do the most good.
The researchers have shown DNA film-coated stents can successfully deliver a gene encoding a fluorescent protein into a rabbit's artery, demonstrating the films can also work in the complex environment of living tissue.
The research by Lynn, Matthew Wolff, Timothy Hacker, Jose Torrealba, Christopher Jewell, Jingtao Zhang, and Nathaniel Fredin was presented Monday in Chicago during a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Source: http://www.playfuls.com/
The idea of using genetic instructions rather than drugs to treat disease has never become a viable therapeutic method for several reasons. But one sizeable hurdle is getting the right genes into the right place at the right time.
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are developing a tool to tackle that problem. David Lynn and colleagues have created nanoscale films that allow controlled release of DNA from surfaces. When used to coat implantable medical devices, the films offer a novel way to route useful genes to exactly where they could do the most good.
The researchers have shown DNA film-coated stents can successfully deliver a gene encoding a fluorescent protein into a rabbit's artery, demonstrating the films can also work in the complex environment of living tissue.
The research by Lynn, Matthew Wolff, Timothy Hacker, Jose Torrealba, Christopher Jewell, Jingtao Zhang, and Nathaniel Fredin was presented Monday in Chicago during a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Source: http://www.playfuls.com/
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