Emerging Approaches for the Discovery of Lipid-Based RNA Delivery Systems

This brief review is a non-comprehensive look at some of the important aspects of lipidic nucleic acid delivery systems with a focus on RNA. In the context of this review on lipid-based formulation, nucleic acids are one of the key cargoes. Here, a brief historical background is given, highlighting a few of the key newly developing approaches to aid formulation design. These new techniques are discussed within a framework of "bottom-up" (rational) versus "top-down" (combinatorial) design. Evolving areas of interest that are discussed include multiplexed formulation and efficacy testing, new principles established in the role of the protein corona, details of the biophysical mechanism of delivery and machine learning approaches to design.