Morphe by Patras-Med iGEM 2025: Breaking the stigma of obesity through innovative synthetic biology. Our miRNA-based gene therapy targets AgRP neurons for precise appetite regulation.
What is project Morphe?
We develop a non-invasive gene therapy for treating obesity, aiming to restore leptin and insulin sensitivity through HDAC6 silencing, offering patients a long-lasting therapeutic solution.
Read moreDon't you have some self control?
A question truly loaded with stigma.
Obesity is still socially perceived as a personal failure, a matter of willpower or rather the lack thereof, when in fact it is a chronic, multifactorial disease shaped by genetics, biology, environment and inequality.
This gap between social perception and clinical reality fuels marginalization: people with obesity are shamed, excluded and blamed instead of supported.
Understanding, not judgment, is what health truly requires.
"Morphe" is committed to breaking this stereotype, addressing obesity through a human-centered approach that prioritizes patient needs and seeks to eliminate the surrounding stigma and harmful misconceptions.
The Global Impact
Our technique
By combining miRE-based shRNAs with an AND-gate design and intranasal delivery, we created a system that precisely targets AgRP neurons.
