Researchers turn Salmonella into antiviral gene therapy agent
Monday, February 7, 2011 - 16:32
in Health & Medicine
Researchers have converted Salmonella bacteria from a food-borne pathogen into a safe delivery vehicle for antiviral agents. They inserted virus-stopping ribozymes into Salmonella that had its ability to cause disease disabled, and then used the bacteria to effectively treat mice infected with cytomegalovirus. It is the first time bacteria have been successfully engineered to treat a viral infection.