History and Properties of Morpholino Antisense Oligos

This paper provides a very brief overview of the beginning of the antisense field, including the first antisense structural types, first patent, and first company in the field. The evolution of the Morpholino antisense structural type is then described in some detail, starting with Carbamate-DNA, then Carbamate- Morpholino, and finally the motivation for and development of the current Phosphorodiamidate-Morpholino structural type. The current Morpholino structural type is then compared with the main competing antisense structural types: S-DNA, PNA, and siRNA. Finally, the challenges of in vivo delivery are briefly discussed, and the promise of new developments in this regard, as well as an exciting new application of Morpholinos which it is hoped will soon lead to safe, effective, and affordable cures for virtually all cancers - possibly by 2020.