Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Bucharest 2026

Biophysics of Membrane Reactions in Brian

Thursday Speaker Abstracts

NANOPLATFORMS FOR GENE THERAPY AND BIOIMAGING Bogdan F Craciun 1 ; Dragos Peptanariu 1 ; Adina Coroaba 1 ; Petru Tirnovan 1 ; Tudor Vasiliu 1 ; Teodora Rusu 1 ; Mariana Pinteala 1 ; 1 Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Centre of Advanced Research in Bionanoconjugates and Biopolymer , Iasi, Romania Personalized medicine as a concept began in 1953, when Watson and Crick discovered the DNA double helix. Later, the concept was further developed by the Human Genome Project (1990– 2003), which provided the understanding that the effect of a drug differs from patient to patient and is related to each individual's genome. This understanding, together with progress in biomarkers, pharmacogenomics, and molecular diagnostics, has led to the current concept of tailoring medications to each patient's unique profile. In this context, Felgner introduced cationic lipids in 1987 as non-viral vectors for lipofection, as safer alternatives to viral carriers, and later, in 1995, Boussif introduced polyethyleneimines as a non-viral vector. Moreover, in 1998, John Funkhouser, as Chief Executive Officer of PharmaNetics, introduced in a press release the notion of theranostics, which integrates treatment and diagnostics and was subsequently implemented using multifunctional non-viral vectors. As an important observation, theranostics represents the next step in personalized medicine; it not only delivers the treatment but also shows, through imaging, how the treatment is working in real time. In this context, the objective of this study is to develop highly efficient non-viral gene vectors for gene therapy, focusing on both active and passive targeting of non-viral hybrid PEI systems, along with the radiolabeling of selected systems for PET/SPECT imaging. This study also indicates the relevance of certain systems and their application in theranostics. All of these developments establish the groundwork for precision medicine based on safe, targeted, and integrated therapeutic frameworks. Acknowledgement: This paper is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement No. 101086667, project BioMat4CAST (BioMat4CAST – “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry Multiscale In Silico Laboratory for Complex and Smart Biomaterials).

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