Dr Tassos Giorgiardis

Gene Therapy Researcher

I am really interested in the part of your body that uses the most light…your eyes! I work with viruses and I find ways we can use them to help us fight disease. Some viruses make us ill but other viruses we can use as a sort of “vehicle”. We can use these little “vehicles” to pack them with DNA – the book of life that has all the information our body needs to function. Then the viruses can deliver the DNA to cells that need it.

In disease, some cells are unhappy and they need new DNA. Some people are born with unhappy cells and with others the cells become unhappy as they grow up. Our special transporter viruses can give them new DNA! We can make them in the lab and choose what cell they can help feel better. For example, some patients have cells in their eyes that need new DNA and until they get it, they can’t see properly. We are using our transporter viruses to do that in these people and make their eyesight good again!

Being a research scientist is really cool! You get to study how the body works in great detail and get to talk about it with many interesting people from around the world who share your passion!

Tassos is our Light box champion.