A new technology developed by UZH researchers enables the body to produce therapeutic agents on demand at the exact location where they are needed. The innovation could reduce the side effects of cancer therapy and may hold the solution to better delivery of Covid-related therapies directly to the lungs.
Scientists at the University of Zurich have modified a common respiratory virus, called adenovirus, to act like a Trojan horse to deliver genes for cancer therapeutics directly into tumor cells.
Image: View of the tumor from the inside. A piece of the tumor was made completely transparent and scanned in 3D with a special microscope. The components labeled with fluorescent colors were rendered in a rotatable 3D representation on the computer (red: blood vessels, turquoise: tumor cells, yellow: therapeutic antibody).