In Vivo Electroporation of Gene Sequences for Therapeutic and Vaccination Applications

Many recent studies have addressed the impact of gene patents and methods of gene delivery on downstream research and innovation. The field of gene therapy has progressed over the last 10 years due to the rapid advancement in delivery technology. Efficient delivery of genes into target cells depends on the absence of cell injury, oncogenic mutation or inflammation. Gene transfer technology saw a significant boost by the applications of in vivo electroporation. This approach is versatile and safe and can be used to deliver nucleic acid fragments, oligonucleotides, siRNA, and plasmids to a wide variety of tissues, such as skeletal muscle, skin and liver. Many have applied this approach in autoimmune or inflammatory diseases, for the intratumoral delivery of therapeutic vectors, or for systemic delivery of endocrine hormones, hematopoietic factors, antibodies, enzymes, or numerous other protein drugs. This technique has been found to strongly boost DNA vaccination against infectious agents or tumor antigens. in vivo Electroporation has been performed in humans. This review will focus on the intellectual property revolving around recent developments in the area of electroporation, including devices and methodology for various applications.