Gelatin-based nanoparticles as DNA transfection vectors

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The most commonly applied method for facilitating the transfer of DNA into cells is through the use of viral vectors, which are the most efficient vectors currently being studied, accounting for more than 65% of ongoing clinical trials. Viral vectors have several potential disadvantages for application as a gene therapy; most significantly, very real safety concerns exist because viral capsids have the potential to generate a severe immune response, cause mutagenisis , as has been demonstrated in a number of animal experiments and human trials, where patient death (resulting from adenoviral vector) has been reported. An alternative approach is to use self-assembling nanoparticles that are capable of binding DNA and delivering it into the cells. These non-viral systems are typically based upon positively charged lipids or polymers, and are generally non-immunogenic and have low toxicities; however, they also suffer from low efficiency in terms of DNA delivery.