Nanoparticles resembling viruses can carry gene-editing tools into muscle and help restore a critical protein in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to a new preprint. In the new research, Zhang and his lab used a virus-like particle called dARC to deliver the gene editor Cas9 into mouse muscle. The strategy helped the muscle cells skip over genetic errors and restore dystrophin expression. The dARC particles showed a strong affinity to muscle cells, which the researchers observed by packaging mRNA with fluorescent labeling inside the capsids. Zhang’s lab is now working on different strategies to stabilize the particles in serum, he says, and is exploring similar virus-like particles.