The traditional one-size-fits-all approach to medicine is often limited due to the fact that specific factors, which differ between individuals, can influence how a disease progresses, and how individuals will respond to therapy. It is increasingly clear that genetics, lifestyle factors and medical histories all play a role in understanding the diverse needs of individual patients. This is fuelling the desire for ‘precision medicine’, where more effective and safer treatments can be designed for patients based on these genetic or lifestyle factors.

Pioneering advancements in the field of precision medicine is Professor Chen Xiaoyuan (Shawn), from NUS Biomedical Engineering and NUS Diagnostic Radiology. He aims to use nanotechnology to revolutionise cancer treatments or prevention.

One area of focus for Prof Chen’s lab is mRNA therapy. In particular, he is interested in the design and delivery of mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines for cancer. He aims not only to maximise the therapeutic efficacy of mRNA-based interventions, but also to mitigate the side effects of traditional cancer therapies. His lab has developed an mRNA that can target and kill cancer cells. This mRNA contains the mutated gene – GSDMD - a key player in the inflammatory response, that targets the mitochondria inside cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct. When tested in in vivo models, the mRNA was shown to effectively shrink tumours and prevented new tumours from forming in various cancers including pancreatic, lung, and colon. Their method also ensures the mRNA is only expressed in tumour cells, mitigating the current issue of off-target effect, which are unwanted physiological responses or toxicities induced by unintended mRNA expression outside the intended target site. Such an innovative mRNA-based approach holds promise as a novel solution for cancer prevention and treatment.

Another area of focus for Prof Chen is in developing mRNA delivery vehicles. Currently, lipid nanoparticles are the most clinically advanced mRNA delivery vehicles available, however they are prone to inflammation-related side effects. To address this issue, Prof Chen has developed a series of alternating copolymers, a type of linear copolymers with two strictly alternating monomer units in the main chain, that can work as potent cancer vaccine vectors without inducing an inflammatory response.

Looking ahead, Prof Chen is keen to further refine the precision of mRNA therapeutics and explore new therapeutic avenues for mRNAs in intestinal and skin diseases.