UC research targets dozens of incurable diseases

UC research targets dozens of incurable diseases

University of Canterbury researchers are working on a revolutionary drug-targeting system that could one day be used to treat a range of fatal, inherited diseases caused by genetic enzyme deficiencies.

With the aid of a Marsden Grant for $870,000, they’re focusing on around 60 or 70 incurable diseases called the lysosomal storage disorders, of which there are around 200 sufferers in New Zealand.

UC Chemistry Professor Antony Fairbanks says the system could deliver recombinant enzymes and other drugs to a specific organelle (a structure in a cell that performs a specialised function) within human cells, where they are needed.

“The key aspect of our research is to develop organelle targeting so we can specifically deliver enzymes and other drugs to where they need to be to do their job.”

Professor Antony Fairbanks, Biomolecular Interaction Centre/Chemistry, University of Canterbury, on his research project, A New Paradigm for Organelle Targeting:

https://youtu.be/PCOEuulGhic

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