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Mainstream medicine is looking increasingly to biotechnology – the field of applied biology that involves the use of biological products such as proteins and DNA – as new means to treat diseases. Biotechnology products have an advantage over chemical agents in their ability to specifically target diseased tissue. Dr. Ildiko Badea is using that advantage to create new DNA-based therapeutic systems.

First, Dr. Badea must overcome the limitations associated with biotechnology. DNA is unable to cross biological membranes spontaneously and it tends to degrade rapidly in the body. To compensate for these significant disadvantages, Dr. Badea is building nano-sized delivery systems. She is using nanoparticles that can be chemically modified in a variety of ways, allowing flexibility for administering not only DNA, but also proteins and other drugs. The nanoparticles are engineered to protect the drug and facilitate its delivery to specific cells with minimal toxicity.

Dr. Badea proposes to construct an efficient, safe, non-invasive, non-viral DNA delivery system that is optimized in cell culture and model tissue. It will provide a platform for expansion to a wide variety of applications. Such a system could offer an improved therapeutic solution to currently untreatable diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and genetic diseases.

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