A sugar-based carrier that gets nucleic acids into cells

// The problem

DNA, RNA and the newer nucleic-acid actives cannot cross a cell membrane on their own. The carriers that can are lipid nanoparticles, priced for pharmaceutical budgets, or liposomes, costly and unstable. Skincare, and much of research, has had no carrier of its own.

// What we built

A carrier made from hyaluronic acid, the sugar the skin already knows, grafted with a natural polyamine so that it binds a nucleic acid and ferries it across the membrane. In culture it has carried a reporter plasmid into four cell lines and passed the standard 72-hour viability screen.

// Why it matters

A carrier that is neither a virus nor a lipid opens nucleic-acid actives to cosmetic formulation first, then to DNA, mRNA and siRNA delivery. The international patent application is in preparation.