New nanoparticles can perform gene editing in the lungs

I was listening to a talk from a leading nanoparticle researcher. He basically said that making new nanoparticles and characterising them is great for writing papers but they all fail actual testing as therapeutic delivery devices. In oncology there are kinda only two nanoparticle therapies - Abraxane, which is a well known chemotherapy drug bound to albumin; liposomal doxorubicin, an encapsulated form of another well known chemotherapy drug. They have been around a while and they are not exactly game changing, extending survival a modest amount at best. Nanoparticles are overrated from where I sit, as are University press releases.<p>On the other hand, antibody based therapies are amazing revolutionary drugs in oncology. Chief among them is Keytruda which has improved the lives of so many patients and has $2billion in sales every <i>month</i> and rising. Most recently, sticking chemotherapy drugs or radioisotopes on the end of antibodies (or smaller antibody like proteins) has shown great results as a delivery vehicle. Are these ‘nanoparticles’? No, just actual drugs that work.

As someone with CF, I remember hearing about gene therapy as a kid as far back as the late 80s. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait for it for many CF patients to have their respiratory issues much improved or even resolved with CFTR modulators.

<i>With further development, these particles could offer an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis and other diseases of the lung</i><p>CF is not &quot;a disease of the lungs.&quot; It&#x27;s a genetic disorder that significantly impacts all epithelial tissues and mucus membranes. This includes the lungs but is not limited to the lungs.<p>It also includes <i>the rest of the respiratory system</i>, plus the gut, skin and reproductive organs. You would at a minimum need to also genetically edit the gut of CF patients to give them something vaguely resembling a normal life.<p>The CF community is well aware that the gut issues are significant and life threatening. The rest of the world, including medical researchers unfortunately, seems to have not gotten the memo.<p>Having said that, the first news of gene therapy that I read and actually liked was a guy who came up with a home therapy for his lactose intolerance.* So we potentially are at a point where you could edit both gut and lungs genetically and do some serious good for such people.<p>* <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.resetera.com&#x2F;threads&#x2F;guy-cures-himself-of-lactose-intolerance-via-home-made-virus-biotech.23013&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.resetera.com&#x2F;threads&#x2F;guy-cures-himself-of-lactos...</a>

Is there any risk that these particles or maliciously programmed particles could go airborne or otherwise get into peoples lungs?

I wonder if this could assist with rebuilding damaged lung tissue from people who have dealt with smoke inhalation from fires, industrial work, drug abuse etc.

My Dad had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) it&#x27;s scarring of lung tissue. I wish there were more awareness and research for IPF. Maybe this nano protein delivering device will also help anyone with IPF too.<p>I had a somewhat dark hope that covid with so many people having lung issues there would be new research and medicines for IPF. But if so it&#x27;s too late my Dad died in 2021. There are some drugs to treat IPF Dad was on one over $40K per year thankfully covered by insurance and the drug maker.

Fixing genetics bugs on a wider scale would be a medical game-changer. A good many debilitating diseases could be cured.

This does not sound like the opening news sequence in a horror apocalyptic movie at all.

Great, but I&#x27;m skeptical of any of these &quot;breakthroughs&quot; ever seeing any added value for those who actually need these. Filed under [in mice].

Oh this is just going to push all the anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists&#x27; buttons

in mice