Accelerate Gene Therapy for Devastating Diseases

At the Scott-Ritchey Research Center, we are working every day to improve the quality of life of people and animals. Biomedical scientists in the Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine are investigating ways to treat genetic and neurologic diseases, including cancer.

In fact, a delivery platform was developed by Auburn researchers that allows for the delivery of gene-based interventions so these treatments can be delivered directly to the brain. From the rare GM1 gangliosidosis and Tay-Sachs diseases, to glioma, Japanese encephalitis, Alzheimer’s and even rabies, the work happening at Auburn could ultimately affect humans and animals worldwide.

And time is essential.

This Tiger Giving Day, we are raising funds to purchase a gene therapy tool called the Stunner that will help our researchers save time. The Stunner is a piece of equipment specifically designed to characterize viruses and nanoparticles to aid in quality control of gene therapies.

Ensuring that a new therapy is safe and effective, and that the dosage is adequate, are critical. Gene therapies require the highest levels of quality control, and right now each requires days to replicate. This work is both timely and tedious but extremely important.

The Stunner is a microfluidics-based machine using Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy, Static Light Scattering and Dynamic Light Scattering to determine necessary measurements and more from a small volume of sample and in a matter of minutes with little variability.

Auburn will be the first academic institution to incorporate this technology into biomedical research. Having access to this piece of equipment, what was previously two weeks of work for our biomedical scientists will be decreased to seconds. This technology will take our gene therapy work to the next level. Every second we can save for researchers brings us that much closer to being able to help humans and animals.