MinJun Kim, the Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor at SMU Lyle Faculty of Engineering, and his analysis workforce have obtained a $300,000 grant from the Nationwide Science Basis to develop a nanosensor that can enhance the accuracy of gene remedy. This may permit for more practical medical trials with fewer unintended effects.
Whereas gene remedy holds nice promise as a transformative remedy for quite a few illnesses, it comes with dangers and challenges. Modifying an individual’s genes requires precision—concentrating on the right tissue, delivering the correct quantity of DNA, and making certain it capabilities over the suitable time frame.
Since 2015, greater than 2,200 medical research for gene remedy have been carried out, many involving liposomes—small lipid bubbles that ship DNA into cells. Profitable supply depends upon loading the DNA in enough quantities and dispersing it uniformly throughout the liposomes, a course of that’s at the moment time-consuming, expensive, and poses high quality management considerations.
Kim and his workforce are growing nanosensor expertise that may quantify, classify, and ensure the DNA content material in liposomes on the single-particle stage. This breakthrough will present unprecedented accuracy in DNA dosage and will revolutionize the success price of gene remedy medical trials sooner or later.
Our imaginative and prescient is that the event of those nanotechnologies for biosensing will enhance entry to gene therapies. This work represents a major step towards bio-manufacturing that would considerably scale back the price of gene remedy therapies whereas making certain excessive accuracy in dose management.
MinJun Kim, Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor, Southern Methodist College
The undertaking is extremely multidisciplinary, encompassing biochemistry, gene transport, nanofabrication, nanophotonics, and nanopore biosensing. The workforce expects this examine to draw undergraduate and graduate college students with various STEM pursuits.
Kim added, “Molecular characterization through nanopore-based techniques is part of the next frontier in genomics and proteomics for the coming decade. We believe this work will prepare students for the next step in their careers.”
This materials is predicated on work sponsored by the US Nationwide Science Basis underneath grant No. 2421778.
Supply:
Southern Methodist College