In laboratory tests, they showed that the clay 'vectors' could transport therapeutic DNA strands into cancerous cells and restrict their growth. Gene therapy delivers helpful genes or repaired DNA sequences to cells. There are alternative, non-viral vectors based on fatty globules, but these tend not to work as well. The researchers layer a material based on magnesium and aluminium hydroxides into clays called 'layered double hydroxides'.
Many cells repel negatively charged molecules with their similarly charged cell membranes.
The clay layers shield DNA from these opposing forces, helping it to slip through. The team reports its results in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition 1 . Choy's group showcased the clay vectors in two experiments. In the first, they sneaked fluorescent molecules into cells. In the second, they clay-wrapped a DNA sequence designed to impede a specific gene of leukaemia cells grown in the laboratory.