In our previous post on this topic, we introduced the details on how to make a replicating RNA virus from its genome (DNA). In this post, we want to zoom in on the details a bit more and share how we have improved the success rate of engineering viruses to over 70%. If you have not read the previous post on the science of viral engineering and want to get a first level understanding on how the process works, go…
Introduction Have you ever wondered how viruses are made in a lab setting? Although it may sound like complex wizardry, the process is quite approachable with a bit of molecular biology under your belt. This blog post will try to explain the process of engineering viruses, making it hopefully understandable to anyone curious about the steps involved. Understanding Virus Structure Before diving into virus creation, it is essential to understand what a virus consists of, in this case specifically lytic…
The biggest problem in cancer therapeutics is selectivity. Using oncolytic viral therapies, high selectivity can be achieved using the combination of selective infection and selective replication. Here, we want to address selective replication. For DNA viruses, this can be accomplished with promoters to control transcription and genome replication. However, for RNA viruses, this does not work. A potential solution to control replication for RNA viruses is the use of aptazymes. Aptazymes are self-cleaving units composed of a riboswitch and an aptamer….
In this post we give an overview of the history of using viruses as potential treatment for cancer. We also outline the challenges a great viral therapy needs to overcome. Last, we review our approach to rationally design and engineer safe and effective oncolytic viruses. History and current state Since the middle of the last century there has been anecdotal evidence that virus infections can help in curing or slowing down cancer. Unfortunately these infections happened randomly and the results…
In this post, I would like to introduce the Humane Genomics Artificial Virus Platform. Why develop an artificial virus platform? For decades, a lot of research has been conducted to see if natural viruses can be used as cancer therapeutics, with limited success. Over the last 10 years, the technology to engineer, to build viruses specifically as cancer therapeutics has matured. However, most technology approaches to make these viruses are complicated, error prone, time consuming and expensive. To address these…