Capsid Engineering: How To Optimise Viral Vectors For Gene Therapy

Gene therapies hold the potential to cure diseases by exploiting viruses. Genome engineering tools like CRISPR and prime editing have accelerated the prospects for this technique. However, obstacles remain in delivering therapies to target tissues safely and effectively. Capsid engineering is one avenue that shows promise in addressing these challenges.

Therapeutic uses of viruses

While many of us only think of viruses as a threat, researchers can harness them as useful medical tools—from vaccines to cancer treatments. One area that has made extensive use of viruses in this way is gene therapy. Here, researchers can use viruses as vehicles, or “vectors”, to deliver a genetic payload to a target cell. Decades of research has taught us that we can exploit viruses in this way to prevent and treat disease. In addition, we can redesign them to work even better for us.