Congratulations to Ariel Wilson, a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at the CR-HMR who was awarded a 2019 FRQS Relève étoile award for his publication In Vivo Laser-Mediated Retinal Ganglion Cell Optoporation Using Kv1.1 Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles, published in Nano Letters.
Abstract
Retinal diseases are one of the leading causes of vision loss. With current therapies, these diseases are often incurable or only temporarily improved. Ariel Wilson and his team developed a novel gene administration method that uses a high-speed laser to illuminate gold nanoparticles on the cell surface to create temporary small openings as an entryway to insert therapeutic genetic material into the cell. This is the first study to demonstrate the viability of this technique in vivo and that, unlike other gene therapy approaches, it lacks toxic side effects. The next steps will focus on the therapeutic potential of this technique in a pathological context to see whether people with eye diseases can recover.
Source and photo credit: site FRQS