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Gene therapy holds promise for curing disease.
But scientists are struggling to find an effective way to deliver genes to cells.
We really thing that these nanostructured brush-like surfaces could revolutionize gene therapy.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientist Angela Pannier builds tiny structures that could someday solve the delivery dilemma.
Like a toothbrush loaded with toothpaste, the structures would coat medical devices used to reach a specific target,
or deliver genes needed to cure disease.
This could have applications in medical devices such as stents or hip implants where you could imagine coating
those with nanostructured surfaces that are loaded with DNA and we could design the DNA or the genes
to promote healing or reduce inflammation as well as use these devices as a way to deliver genes that
could cure genetic diseases like cancer of hemophilia.
Pannier earned a National Science Foundation career award to continue her research.
She is also working to improve education by developing new courses in biomedical engineering,
providing research experiences for students and creating workshops for high school teachers.
The most exciting part is working with students and seeing their excitement for their project and when they
start to have this aha moment and realize that they are either witnessing something than no one in the world
has ever seen before or they're developing a technology that could change many different aspects.
When you see the student's eyes realize 'I am doing something really cool, and this really could have an impact on many people.'
I think that's probably the best part of my job.
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