Singapore, Aug. 26 -- Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Medicine and China's Tianjin Medical University General Hospital have developed a bioinspired lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that can deliver gene-editing machinery to the liver and reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, commonly known as "bad" cholesterol.

The nanoparticles reduced LDL and total cholesterol by more than 20 per cent after two doses, while showing fewer signs of inflammation and toxicity than the comparator formulations.

The research team designed the LNP using materials inspired by molecules naturally found in the body, with the aim of improving the safety of messenger RNA (mRNA) delivery. mRNA is a temporary set of genetic instructio...