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Growing up, Jessica Kretzmann didn’t expect to become a scientist.
She certainly didn’t expect to be honoured as the Early Career Scientist of the Year at the recent Premier’s Science Awards.
“I’m speechless about it to be honest,” says Jessica.
“It’s a bit mind-blowing.”
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Jessica grew up in Karratha.
“We didn’t really have much of a science program, especially in primary school,” says Jessica.
But a few pivotal moments shaped how she thought about science – including a visit from Scitech.
“You’re sitting there, 300 people in an undercover area, and it’s hot and there’s flies,” says Jessica.
“But you’re totally enamoured by liquid nitrogen which hasn’t evaporated yet.”
After moving to Perth for high school, Jessica realised all her interests led to science.
“From there, I started connecting the dots a little bit more,” she says.
Credit: Supplied Jessica Kretzmann
CHECK(POINT) IT OUT
Now, Jessica is using nanotechnology to better understand how we can deliver gene therapies.
Gene therapy is a type of medical treatment for genetic disorders – including cancers, multiple sclerosis or blood diseases.
It involves delivering altered or edited genes into someone’s body.
“There’s potential to completely revolutionise the way that we treat diseases or cure them or even prevent them,” says Jessica.
“My research has been looking at ways to deliver gene therapeutics.
“One of the very difficult things to do is deliver it safely and efficiently to cells.”
Jessica says this is because “your cells have evolved to try and resist something else giving it genetic instructions”.
This means gene therapies must bypass the cell’s security checkpoint and avoid detection by your immune system.
They also need to be targeted. If a gene therapy is helping someone with a blood disorder, it’s not much use if it ends up in their hair cells.
“We need to understand those cellular checkpoints and understand how we can design materials around them,” says Jessica.
DNA ORIGAMI
Researchers are trying various ways to get gene therapies past cell checkpoints.
There are CAR T-cell therapies, which Jessica says “reprogram your T cells” to launch an immune response.
“The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was [another] way of doing gene delivery,” she says.
But Jessica is working on another method: DNA origami.
Credit: Supplied Jessica Kretzmann
“DNA origami is a technique or tool where you take any piece of synthetic known DNA and fold it into any two- or three-dimensional shape,” she says.
Researchers have tested the potential of DNA origami to make useful and interesting shapes, but the DNA couldn’t be read or interpreted by a cell.
In Jessica’s groundbreaking research, she was able to encode a gene into her origami structure that could deliver a readable message to a cell.
“You have his intricate folded 3D structure … and gene therapy in one, so you don’t need any extra carrier,” she says.
Like a peach, a DNA origami gene therapy comes with its own perfect packaging.
WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED
As WA’s leading expert on DNA origami, Jessica is expanding her team.
“This year, I’ve had my first PhD students,” says Jessica proudly.
She’s currently working with three PhD students and, “at any one stage, two or three master’s students”.
“When you do an experiment – for a moment – you’re the first person in the world to know that result.”
Jessica loves to “see [her students] have these moments and get really excited.”
In the future, she would love to see more people using DNA origami as a tool in their own research.
“There is a huge benefit [in gene therapy],” says Jessica.
“But we haven’t reached its full potential.”
