STEALTH viruses could be used to sneak past the immune system and deliver
missing genes to people with disorders such as cystic fibrosis.
Maria Croyle and her colleagues at the universities of Pennsylvania and Texas
“disguised” adenoviruses by adding the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) to
proteins on their coats. When these disguised viruses were used to deliver genes
to the lungs of mice, the new genes kept working for much longer: 42 days
instead of just 4.
The trick of adding PEG to proteins to hide them from the immune system has
long been used by the drugs industry. But…
