Gloria González Aseguinolaza
Researcher in the Gene Therapy and Regulation of Gene Expression Programme and Director of Innovation and Transfer at Cima University of Navarra
The study contains a tremendous amount of work and is very well done.
They have succeeded in developing a synthetic vector that reproduces the main characteristics of viral vectors, which are characterised by their ability to transfer genetic material into cells.
Until now, the synthetic viruses developed were very inefficient in terms of transferring genetic material to the cell. In this case, in addition, the vector can transfer both genetic material and proteins and can be loaded with large DNA or RNA sequences, which is essential for the treatment of genetic diseases associated with a large gene.
The main limitation is that the study lacks animal data, and this is where the problems will lie. It is a very large and complex vector and it is very likely that its in vivo efficacy will be reduced and it will induce toxic and immune responses, as is the case with large viruses, which will condition its therapeutic efficacy.