At I-RNA 2026, Skin Becomes the Delivery Question

Skin has more than one barrier

At the I-RNA 2026 summit in Suzhou, N1 Life co-founder and CEO Dr. Xiaoyu Zang spoke about topical and transdermal nucleic-acid delivery. Her publicly reported talk moved the discussion from simply crossing the skin surface to what must happen after a nucleic acid enters living tissue. ^{[1, 2]}

The talk set out three barriers: the stratum corneum, the living epidermis and release inside target cells. A signal seen on the skin surface cannot establish that a nucleic acid reached the intended cells, remained intact or became biologically active. Each step calls for a different readout. ^[1]

The development question is a sequence

Dr. Zang described penetration, protection, localization and release as connected design tasks. The point is practical: an experiment that measures only how much material entered skin leaves the later steps unresolved. Studies of topical small-interfering RNA have shown that delivery systems can be engineered to address some of these barriers, while efficacy must still be demonstrated for a defined payload, tissue and model. ^{[1, 3]}

This is a record of a public scientific discussion, not a report of clinical efficacy or a comparison proving one carrier superior. For a specific program, the next decision depends on the payload, target skin compartment and evidence available at each step.

Sources

1. N1 Life. 臧晓羽博士在I-RNA 2026分享皮肤核酸递送新路径. N1 Life 微信公众号. 2026-05-23.
2. I-RNA 2026 第六届核酸药物产业深度聚焦峰会. 官方活动页.
3. Zheng D, et al. Topical delivery of siRNA-based spherical nucleic acid nanoparticle conjugates for gene regulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2012;109:11975–11980. doi:10.1073/pnas.1118425109.