The DNA drug revolution

DNA or RNA molecules, arranged into spherical shapes, can attack brain cancers and other illnesses that evade conventional drug design.

We now have the ability to screen for thousands of genetic diseases in newborns. That may not always be the healthy thing to do.

After false starts, drugs that manipulate the code of life are finally changing lives.

DNA-based medicine needs more diversity to avoid harmful bias. One big research project is fixing that.

Giving patients the best care for a good price is the goal of any hospital. Why is it so difficult? Four experts on out-of-the-box fixes to healthcare.

Non-viral vehicles for the delivery of nucleic acids have potential applications for the treatment of diseases by, for example, restoring, correcting or silencing the expression of genes. In this Review, the authors discuss the latest developments in synthetic materials used for gene delivery and the challenges that must be overcome to transfer these innovations into the clinic.

A methodology combining high-throughput nanoparticle synthesis and machine learning can be used to efficiently explore structure–activity relationships for nanomedicines, as shown by spherical nucleic acids functioning as cancer-vaccine candidates.

This Review outlines the ability of DNA to direct the organization of particle-based building blocks into crystalline architectures. These advancements permit programmable control of each structural element of colloidal crystalline materials and enable the design of functional and responsive behaviours.

Global genomic diversity can provide new opportunities for discovery and translation into therapies, as well as a better understanding of population disease risks. This Review considers the value of examining diverse populations to better understand genetic contributors to disease risk and trait variation.

With the growing number of efficient gene therapies on the market, now is the time to take actions to ensure reasonable pricing of gene therapy products. Among these, we propose to incentivize gene therapy companies to adopt a status that translates their corporate social responsibility into concrete commitments.