Dr Jessica Kretzmann’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of new materials for both the delivery of gene therapies, and for the rapid detection and diagnosis of disease conditions. Gene therapies have the potential to revolutionise treatment of diseases such as cancer, avoiding traditional chemotherapy side-effects, but currently there are no safe and efficient methods to get these therapies inside the cancerous cells.
To address and solve this complex delivery problem, Dr Kretzmann works between multiple disciplines, including chemistry, nanotechnology, engineering, and biology. She developed a new material for gene delivery and demonstrated highly efficient delivery of genome editing tools in mouse models of breast cancer, resulting in tumour regression. Recently, Dr Kretzmann developed methods where gene therapeutics can be folded into defined nanoparticle shapes for specific cell targeting and gene expression, using a technique called ‘DNA origami’.