Vision of Xicles

Gene editing technology marks a major breakthrough for gene therapy. However, current gene delivery systems by viral transfection do not work efficiently for many important biomedical applications, and lack the precision required to target specific cancer cells in complex microenvironments and tissues. To address this issue, Xicles is developing a novel microfluidic approach to formulate bioinspired cell-membrane nanovesicles (CMNVs) as cargo carriers. Our focus is on the development of personalized nanovesicles from different cells (e.g., platelets, blood cells, and cancer cells isolated from patients) by using an integrateable microfluidic workflow as outlined in Figure 1. Next to the vesicle fabrication, we study transmembrane binding affinity, mechanism, and specify in order to formulate smart nanocarriers with a high circulation time but precise delivery of therapeutics to minimize side effects. Our research plan will establish a scalable state-of-the-art biomedical engineering technology to pave the way for pre-/clinical translation of transformative gene editing and therapy.