Drs. Daniel Gallego-Perez (inventor) and Natalia Higuita-Castro (co-inventor) were recently awarded a patent for "INTERPENETRATING MICROSTRUCTURES FOR NANOCHANNEL-BASED CARGO DELIVERY.”
Tissue Nano-Transfection (TNT) is a technology that enables the delivery of genes into tissues without the need for viruses. Typical gene delivery approaches for biomedical research or therapies must use viruses to deliver genes into cells. However, viruses have several limitations, including biosafety concerns and the potential for triggering adverse immune reactions.
"We have been working on developing nanotechnologies that facilitate gene delivery into cells in the body, bypassing the need for viruses. We have used this technology in different applications ranging from regenerative medicine to cancer research." -Dr. Daniel Gallego-Perez
“In some instances, we are using TNT to deliver genes into cells that will “teach” them how to behave like a different cell type. For example, converting skin cells into brain cells, or blood vessel cells, or insulin-producing cells to treat diabetes. The main goal here is to develop therapies for regenerative medicine applications. In some other cases we have used TNT to deliver anti-cancer genes to tumors to regress cancer progression. Our TNT research is currently supported by federal agencies and private foundations.”
Gallego-Perez and Higuita-Castro are currently collaborating on several more patents for other technologies and we are looking forward to sharing great news about those in the near future.