MADISON, Wis., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Mirus Bio Corporation have developed a technique to target specific cells with a genetic “silencing switch,” known as RNA interference (RNAi), which blocks the production of disease-causing proteins inside those cells. In a first proof-of-concept demonstration, Mirus scientists targeted liver cells and switched off their ability to produce “bad” cholesterol. This delivery platform could also be used as a foundation for RNAi therapeutics to disable cancer cells, viruses, and genes that cause other metabolic diseases, among a broad range of potential applications. Details of this breakthrough have just been published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences under the title “Dynamic PolyConjugates for targeted in vivo delivery of siRNA to hepatocytes”. Mirus Bio, which was founded in 1995, specializes in nucleic acid chemistry and delivery systems for RNAi- and gene-based therapies.
