Many studies on gene therapy are directed to the development of efficient vectors for gene transfer. In recent years, there is increasing interest in nonviral vectors because, despite the undeniable efficiency of viral vectors in the transfer of DNA, they have limitations associated, as are the difficult achievement of viral particles titles high, and biological safety risks, such as induction of immune responses, insertional mutagenesis or reversion phenomena. In the context of this growing concern about the potential dangers of using viral vectors, researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona publish their work on potential non-viral vectors that provide more security to the process of introducing therapeutic nucleotide sequences.

The effectiveness of the systems used as nonviral vectors is measured by its ability to emulate certain virtues of the virus, its ability to direct the process of cellular internalization and cell type specificity for a target. The recombinant chimeric proteins are interesting candidates for nonviral gene transfer. A large scale may not require additional changes and are free of potential hazards. Modular construction allows you to select the domains that will shape the carrier, as a function of their origins and their activities. This group, Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the Universidad Autonomy de Barcelona has developed promising prototypes, able to release the expressed gene sequences, not only in cultured cells but also in target tissues of living organisms.