https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Gene therapy holds the promise of preventing and curing disease by manipulating gene expression within a patient's cells. However, to be effective, the new gene must make it into a cell's nucleus. The inability to consistently, efficiently do so has hampered progress in advancing treatment. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-dna-tagging-workflow-boosts-gene.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 05 Feb 2026 05:48:48 EST news689492884 Capstan Therapeutics scientists demonstrate that lipid nanoparticles can engineer CAR T cells within the body without laboratory cell manufacturing and ex vivo expansion. The method using targeted lipid nanoparticles (tLNPs) is designed to deliver messenger RNA specifically to CD8+ T cells. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-lipid-nanoparticles-car-cells-vivo.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:10:04 EDT news669891654 A new discovery could pave the way for more effective cancer treatment by helping certain drugs work better inside the body. Scientists at Duke University School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and University of Arkansas have found a way to improve the uptake of a promising class of cancer-fighting drugs called PROTACs, which have struggled to enter cells due to their large size. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-scientists-hack-cell-entry-supercharge.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 17 Apr 2025 11:00:01 EDT news664103652 A research team from Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich has developed an advanced delivery system that transports gene-editing tools based on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system into living cells with significantly greater efficiency than before. Their technology, ENVLPE, uses engineered non-infectious virus-like particles to precisely correct defective genes—demonstrated successfully in living mouse models that are blind due to a mutation. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-smart-delivery-tech-boosts-crispr.html Biotechnology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 17:23:05 EDT news663438181 How can we ensure that life-saving drugs or genetic therapies reach their intended target cells without causing harmful side effects? Researchers at Helmholtz Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) and Technical University Munich (TUM) have developed a method that, for the first time, enables the precise detection of nanocarriers—tiny transport vehicles—throughout the entire mouse body at a single-cell level. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-scp-nano-technology-visualizes-nanocarriers.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:16:04 EST news656075761 An interdisciplinary collaboration has designed a way to "cloak" proteins so that they can be captured by lipid nanoparticles, which are akin to tiny bubbles of fat. These bubbles are small enough to sneak their hidden cargo into living cells, where the proteins uncloak and exert their therapeutic effect. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-approach-cloaked-proteins-cancer-therapeutics.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 28 May 2024 13:31:58 EDT news636121913 Most approved gene therapies today, including those involving CRISPR-Cas9, work their magic on cells removed from the body, after which the edited cells are returned to the patient. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-highly-crispr-delivery-advances-gene.html Biotechnology Thu, 01 Feb 2024 09:57:11 EST news626003827 One problem in gene therapy is that not all genes transfer equally well into the target cells. UZH researchers have now developed a flexible method to transfer large genes efficiently and without significant side effects. The approach has strong potential for therapeutic use. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-methods-effective-large-genes-gene.html Biotechnology Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:37:03 EDT news617359021 Over the past decade, researchers have sought more effective and enduring cancer treatments. Among the wide variety of immunotherapies, Stimulator of Interfron Genes activation (STING agonism) has emerged as a particularly promising approach that harnesses a patient's immune system to combat tumors throughout the body. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nanostructures-immune-ability-combat-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 13 Jul 2023 17:07:56 EDT news608486870 Research led by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has revealed a novel mechanism that regulates secretion of sonic hedgehog (Shh), a key signaling molecule that plays an important role in cancer progression in mammals, opening the door to novel therapeutic strategies for cancer induced by the hedgehog signaling pathway. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-molecular-mechanism-secretion-sonic-hedgehog.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 09 May 2022 11:04:50 EDT news571313085 An emerging type of material called a metal-organic framework (MOF) could help improve the delivery of genetic material for treating disease. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-genetic-material-mofs-therapies.html Biochemistry Mon, 11 Apr 2022 10:25:29 EDT news568891527 Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a way to selectively turn on gene therapies in target cells, including human cells. Their technology can detect specific messenger RNA sequences in cells, and that detection then triggers production of a specific protein from a transgene, or artificial gene. https://phys.org/news/2021-10-rna-therapies-human-cells.html Biotechnology Thu, 28 Oct 2021 11:00:05 EDT news554622495 Proteins are the essence of life: they give structure to cells and organelles, catalyze metabolic reactions, build, break, tug, and pull—they carry out most of the actions that sustain a cell's existence. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-disrupting-ribosome-production-renewed-potential.html Biotechnology Wed, 09 Jun 2021 09:47:17 EDT news542450834 Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have created a tiny, nanosize container that can slip inside cells and deliver protein-based medicines and gene therapies of any size—even hefty ones attached to the gene-editing tool called CRISPR. If their creation—constructed of a biodegradable polymer—passes more laboratory testing, it could offer a way to efficiently ferry larger medical compounds into specifically selected target cells. https://phys.org/news/2019-12-nanocontainer-ships-titan-size-gene-therapies.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:00:04 EST news494839064 Scientists from ITMO in collaboration with international colleagues have proposed new DNA-based nanomachines that can be used for gene therapy for cancer. This new invention can greatly contribute to more effective and selective treatment of oncological diseases. The results were published in Angewandte Chemie. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-nanomachines-taught-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 08 Feb 2019 06:41:01 EST news468830451 With targeted drug and gene therapies, finding the target cells is only half the battle. Once these agents reach a cell's surface, they still have to get inside and do their job. https://phys.org/news/2018-05-technique-track-drug-gene-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 22 May 2018 08:17:34 EDT news446195840 MIT engineers have designed magnetic protein nanoparticles that can be used to track cells or to monitor interactions within cells. The particles, described today in Nature Communications, are an enhanced version of a naturally occurring, weakly magnetic protein called ferritin. https://phys.org/news/2015-11-protein-nanoparticles-scientists-track-cells.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 02 Nov 2015 08:56:08 EST news365676959 Acne, a scourge of adolescence, may be about to meet its ultra high-tech match. By using a combination of ultrasound, gold-covered particles and lasers, researchers from UC Santa Barbara and the private medical device company Sebacia have developed a targeted therapy that could potentially lessen the frequency and intensity of breakouts, relieving acne sufferers the discomfort and stress of dealing with severe and recurring pimples. https://phys.org/news/2015-03-latest-nanotechnology-transdermal-drug-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 19 Mar 2015 14:08:24 EDT news345992894 Stem cells hold great promise as a means of repairing cells in conditions such as multiple sclerosis, stroke or injuries of the spinal cord because they have the ability to develop into almost any cell type. Now, new research shows that stem cell therapy can also work through a mechanism other than cell replacement. https://phys.org/news/2014-09-stem-cells-aid-kits.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:00:05 EDT news330250840 Rice University researchers are making strides toward a set of rules to custom-design Lego-like viral capsid proteins for gene therapy. https://phys.org/news/2013-08-gene-therapy-vectors-combine-benign-viruses.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:12:54 EDT news295524762 Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Northwestern universities have discovered how to control the shape of nanoparticles that move DNA through the body and have shown that the shapes of these carriers may make a big difference in how well they work in treating cancer and other diseases. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-scientists-dna-nanoparticle-therapy.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 12 Oct 2012 05:39:31 EDT news269239164