Researchers designed three-dimensional DNA origami nanocarriers featuring surface-patterned antigens to deliver protection against respiratory syncytial virus, according to peer-reviewed research published on Aug. 18, 2026, in Nature Materials. The nanostructures show enhanced mucosal retention and stimulate potent, localized respiratory immunity directly at the target site.
Abhisek Dwivedy and Xing Wang conducted the study across several departments at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Illinois. Both researchers are based in the Department of Bioengineering and the Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab at the Grainger College of Engineering. They also represent the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Department of Chemistry, and the Cancer Center at Illinois. Dwivedy and Wang declared no competing financial interests in the published text.
The study draws on earlier work across molecular nanotechnology, biomaterials, and viral immunology. The authors cite research from groups including Veneziano et al. in Nature Nanotechnology, Douglas, Alexander, and Chou in ACS Nano, and Romanov et al. in Science. Their citations also include studies by Oktay et al., Rajwar et al., Gao et al., Li et al., and Mettelman, Allen, and Thomas.
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