Reagents for Nucleic Acid Transfection
SnapFect is a novel nucleic acid transfection technology that uses a combination of cell surface engineering and bio-orthogonal chemistry to directly target and deliver nucleic acids to a wide range of cell types with high viability and efficiency. Unlike existing methods that use electrostatic interactions for transfection with poor viability, efficiency with high cytotoxicity results, SnapFect is able to target foreign nucleic acids to cells in vitro and in vivo that are tailored with bio-orthogonal chemical groups with superior efficiency and viability.
The term bioorthogonal chemistry refers to a suite of covalent chemical ligation reactions that can occur inside of living systems without interfering with native biochemical processes. These powerful chemical reactions are essentially invisible in a biological environment. The rapid installation of a bio-orthogonal groups onto a cells surface via liposome fusion followed by the directed targeting of the complementary bio-orthogonal groups in a nucleic acid complex for cell transfection with nucleic acids has been invented by Dr. Yousaf and colleagues.
