Review

DNA molecules and human therapeutics

Michael K. Danquah¹*, Jenny Ho², Shan Liu¹ and Gareth M. Forde¹

¹BEL (Bio Engineering Laboratory), Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Victoria, 3800, Australia.

²Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: michael.danquah@eng.monash.edu.au.

Accepted 6 November, 2008

Nucleic acid molecules are championing a new generation of reverse engineered biopharmaceuticals. In terms of potential application in gene medicine, plasmid DNA (pDNA) vectors have exceptional therapeutic and immunological profiles as they are free from safety concerns associated with viral vectors, display non-toxicity and are simpler to develop. This review addresses the potential applications of pDNA molecules in vaccine design/development and gene therapy via recombinant DNA technology as well as a staged delivery mechanism for the introduction of plasmid-borne gene to target cells via the nasal route.

Key words: Plasmid DNA, vaccine development, gene therapy, staged delivery nasal route.