CommentPublished: 13 October 2026Pieter R. Cullis ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9586-25081 Nature Nanotechnology volume 21, pages 1369–1371 (2026) Cite this articleView saved researchCuriosity-driven studies of lipid organization and lipid asymmetry in biological membranes led to scalable methods for making liposomes, efficient loading of drugs and ionizable cationic lipids. In turn, these advances led to lipid nanoparticles enabling the RNA medicine Onpattro and the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, and they are now facilitating gene therapies that can potentially treat most human diseases.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institutionAccess options Access through your institutionAccess Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journalsGet Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription27,99 € / 30 dayscancel any timeLearn moreSubscribe to this journalReceive 12 print issues and online access269,00 € per yearonly 22,42 € per issueLearn moreBuy this articlePurchase on SpringerLinkInstant access to the full article PDF.39,95 €Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutFig. 1SubjectsBiotechnologyNanoparticlesReferencesBangham, A. D. & Horne, R. W. J. Mol. Biol. 8, 660–668 (1964).Article PubMed Google Scholar Cullis, P. R. & de Kruijff, B. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 559, 399–420 (1979).Article PubMed Google Scholar Cullis, P. R. & Hope, M. J. Nature 271, 672–674 (1978).Article PubMed Google Scholar Hope, M. J., Bally, M. B., Webb, G. & Cullis, P. R. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 812, 55–65 (1985).Article PubMed Google Scholar Bailey, A. L. & Cullis, P. R. Biochemistry 33, 12573–12580 (1994).Article PubMed Google Scholar Madden, T. D. et al. Chem. Phys. Lipids 53, 37–46 (1990).Article PubMed Google Scholar Batist, G., Barton, J., Chaikin, P., Swenson, C. & Welles, L. Expert. Opin. Pharmacother. 3, 1739–1751 (2002).Article PubMed Google Scholar Silverman, J. A. & Deitcher, S. R. Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 71, 555–564 (2013).Article PubMed Google Scholar Maurer, N. et al. Biophys. J. 80, 2310–2326 (2001).Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Semple, S. C. et al. Biochim. Biophys Acta 1510, 152–166 (2001).Article PubMed Google Scholar Zimmermann, T. S. et al. Nature 441, 111–114 (2006).Article PubMed Google Scholar Semple, S. C. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 28, 172–176 (2010).Article PubMed Google Scholar Jayaraman, M. et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 51, 8529–8533 (2012).Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Akinc, A. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 1084–1087 (2019).Article PubMed Google Scholar Pardi, N. et al. Nature 543, 248–251 (2017).Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Cullis, P. R. & Felgner, P. L. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 23, 709–722 (2024).Article PubMed Google Scholar Download referencesAuthor informationAuthors and AffiliationsDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CanadaPieter R. CullisAuthorsPieter R. CullisView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarCorresponding authorCorrespondence to Pieter R. Cullis.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsP.R.C. has financial interests in Acuitas Therapeutics, NanoVation Therapeutics, Seragene Therapeutics, CereCura NanoTherapeutics and Integrated NanoTherapeutics.Additional informationRelated links:Acuitas: https://acuitastx.com/Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: https://www.alnylam.com/Rights and permissionsReprints and permissionsAbout this article