LumiDot - Zinc Selenide Quantum Dots as Trackable Gene Delivery Vehicles​

Wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) is a leading cause of adult blindness affecting 196 million people globally, with current anti-VEGF treatments costing over $30,000 per year and offering no lasting cure. Gene therapy presents a promising alternative, but existing viral vector delivery systems carry risks of immune response, mutagenesis, and high production costs. Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) quantum dots (QDs) are a structurally stable, trackable, and non-cytotoxic design intended to serve as a non-viral gene delivery platform for researchers. The design combines a heavy-metal-free ZnSe core, a 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) capping molecule for enhanced stability and fluorescence, and polyethyleneimine (PEI) complexing to enable gene loading and cell interactions. This design aims to provide researchers with a safer, fluorescently trackable alternative to viral vectors for early-stage gene delivery development. This project focuses on optimizing QD brightness, size, and charge to establish foundational data for a stable, biocompatible gene delivery platform applicable to wet AMD and beyond.