Reconstituted viral envelopes- "Trojan Horses" for drug delivew and gene therapy?

Reconstituted viral envelopes (RVEs) are formed by solubilizing intact virus in detergent and reassembling the envelope on removal of detergent. RVEs can be formed in the presence of agents that become encapsulated and can then be utilized in ~fro and in v/vo for drug delivery, cell destruction, transfer of membrane compo- nents, and as vectors for genetic engineering. The problems with biotechnological applications of RVEs and possible strategies for overcoming them are discussed in this article.