Synthetic immunology, an innovative field of research which could lead to fundamentally new approaches and methods in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer, is the topic of an article in the "Perspectives" section of the journal "Nature Nanotechnology". Herein, Heidelberg researchers Prof. Dr.
Kerstin Göpfrich, Prof. Dr. Michael Platten, Prof.
Dr. Friedrich Frischknecht, and Prof. Dr.
Oliver T. Fackler describe a so-called bottom-up approach that uses the toolbox of nanotechnology and synthetic biology to construct systems from molecular building blocks and specifically equip them with immune functions. The experts in the fields of synthetic biology, neuroimmunology, parasitology, and virology conduct research at Heidelberg University, the Heidelberg and Mannheim University Hospitals, the German Cancer Research Center, and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research.
In the new bottom-up approach in synthetic immunology, complex immune functions are no longer created by modifying existing cells or molecules, but rather originate from molecular building blocks like nanoscale components or artificial cells assembled into complex systems. The process is based on technologies and techniques from synthetic biology such as the design of proteins and peptides, polymer synthesis as well as DNA/RNA modification and DNA/RNA origami - the three-dimensional "folds" of DNA or RNA strands - to produce functional nanostructures. As the authors discuss in their article in the ".