The future of lipid nanoparticles and mRNA cancer vaccines

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines would not have been possible without breakthroughs in lipid nanoparticles, both of which researchers are now developing for cancer therapeutics. Most chemotherapies are ineffective at distinguishing between healthy and cancerous cells and simply destroy cancer cells slightly more; however, this results in unwanted toxic side effects. The immune system is able to precisely differentiate between mutant and normal cells and does so better than drugs that are currently available, therefore exploiting our immune system’s natural abilities via immunotherapies has become an attractive approach for treating cancers. Researchers have been developing immunotherapeutic vaccines that boost the immune...