Accelerating the Clinical Success of Gene Therapies through Viral Vector Engineering

Abstract

Viruses have evolved to invade host cells and hijack their cellular machinery to direct the replication and transcription of their own genomes. While these properties make viruses dangerous pathogens, they also make them ideal couriers for getting new DNA into a host cell and ensuring that it’s transcribed. Here, we describe three aspects of viral biology that make them efficient delivery vehicles for gene therapies, and some of the ways that OXGENE has taken advantage of these properties to improve clinical performance.