Successful delivery of genes through the blood-brain barrier

Potentially groundbreaking research, published recently in Nature Biotechnology, has successfully modified an adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver genes across the blood-brain barrier and into a mouse brain. The research, carried out at Caltech (CA, USA), provides hope for the delivery of novel therapeutics into the brain. “By figuring out a way to get genes across the blood-brain barrier, we are able to deliver them throughout the adult brain with high efficiency,” explained lead author Ben Deverman. To date, success in delivering AAV’s and associated genes to the brain and central nervous system has been limited, requiring invasive surgical injections into...