For more than two decades, gene delivery has been accomplished by using engineered viruses as a vehicle to get into diseased cells and 70 percent of clinical trials worldwide continue to use this method. But, the viruses used for gene delivery occasionally evoke severe immune responses, so scientists continue to search for non-viral delivery vehicles.
Lipid DNA complexes are attracting increasing attention as non-viral DNA delivery vehicles. They have been described as one of the “hottest new technologies” for gene therapy, accounting for nearly 10 percent of ongoing clinical trials.