Brilliant 10: Kathryn Whitehead Designs Drugs To Wipe Out Disease
Kathryn Whitehead Alexander Wells The human body is difficult territory to conquer, even for medicine: Many drugs have to enter the bloodstream, bypass the immune system, and arrive at a precise location within a designated cell. That’s why Kathryn Whitehead, a chemical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University, is searching for the perfect vehicle: a nanoparticle that can shuttle new therapies directly to where they’re most needed. Whitehead is focused on double-stranded bits of nucleic acid called small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These molecules can block the production of many proteins that cause disease, and so can potentially treat everything from genetic disorders to viral infections. But siRNAs are unstable and difficult to deliver. While many researchers have tried encapsulating them with nanoparticles, they’ve struggled to find one that works successfully. "People look at me like...