Researchers Develop a CRISPR-Based Therapy That Penetrates Solid Tumors

The CRISPR-Cas9 system revolutionized the way researchers manipulate DNA and introduced a new era in gene editing therapy. In cancer research, CRISPR-based therapy represents an exciting therapeutic approach through the genetic inactivation or repair of cancer-related genes.¹ However, CRISPR therapies for solid tumors still face considerable challenges. Because these cancer cells replicate easily, therapies need to access numerous cells to reverse malignancy.² This challenge is exacerbated by the fibrous and physically dense tumor microenvironment, which blocks CRISPR machinery.³

Early in his career, Daniel Siegwart used materials engineering to solve biomedical problems. After moving to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Siegwart applied these skills to animal cancer models, experimenting with lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) for delivering therapeutic nucleic acids. “When the CRISPR papers came out, we immediately read those papers and kind of fell out of our chairs because we could see very clearly this elusive discovery of a modular ...