The annual ASGCT meeting has long served as a reliable barometer for where cell and gene therapy research is heading. At the 2026 edition, several themes stood out across presentations, posters, and discussions on the exhibit hall floor.
While many of the core challenges in the field remain familiar, there was a clear sense that approaches to solving them are becoming more precise, data-driven, and integrated across disciplines.
Key takeaways:
- AAV characterization is shifting from traditional full/empty classification to mapping the full spectrum of packaged species.
- Nanobody and engineering-based retargeting strategies are giving researchers far greater control over where vectors go.
- Base editing has moved from proof of concept to an increasingly mature and broadly applicable precision genome engineering approach.
Beyond full and empty capsid characterization
AAV capsid content characterization continues to be a central analytical focus in the field. However, discussions at this year's meeting reflected a clear movement away from the traditional “full” and “empty” distinction toward a more detailed understanding of what is actually present within a vector preparation.
There is growing interest in tools that can resolve partial packaging, incomplete transgene sequences, and broader heterogeneity in cargo profiles. Rather than treating vector populations as two discrete categories, researchers are increasingly aiming to describe the full distribution of packaged species within a sample. These approaches are helping build a more realistic picture of vector composition than the binary framework has allowed so far.
The practical implication is that preparations historically classified as "full" may in fact contain a significant proportion of partially packaged particles. As this becomes better understood, it follows that both dose calculations and safety assessments may need to be revisited in a more granular way.
Retargeting gains traction
Alongside these analytical advances, rational retargeting of both AAV and lentiviral vectors is becoming a central theme in vector engineering. This reflects a broader shift toward controlling not only what is delivered, but also where and how it enters target cells.
Nanobody-based approaches are emerging as a flexible strategy to redirect tropism, while recent CNS-targeted capsid work presented at the meeting illustrated how far tissue-specific delivery has progressed. In the lentiviral space, engineering efforts are focused on improving entry specificity through engineering rather than relying on native tropism.
There is marked interest in the growing development of tools enabling these approaches, particularly access to diverse antibody and nanobody resources that can be integrated into retargeting workflows. This is accompanied by the increasing use of automated, higher-throughput systems to support the generation and screening of complex capsid libraries.
Base editing matures
On the payload side, the maturation of base editing as a therapeutic modality was evident throughout the program. The avoidance of double-strand DNA breaks is now largely accepted as a design principle rather than a point of debate, shifting attention toward how these approaches can be applied more broadly and with greater precision.
As applications expand across modalities, including CAR T, CAR NK, HSC therapies, and monogenic disorders, the focus is moving beyond optimization for individual targets. Instead, there is growing interest in broadly applicable editing strategies that can address diverse patient genotypes while maintaining the precision that has made base editing so attractive.
Prime editing was also discussed, although it is generally viewed as being at an earlier stage of development, with further de-risking required before it reaches the same level of confidence and adoption associated with base editing.
In vivo delivery on the rise
In vivo delivery approaches, including LNP-based strategies, are gaining ground relative to ex vivo cell engineering. This trend was visible both in the scientific program and the commercial conversations happening around it.
The underlying driver for this is scalability. There is increasing recognition that reaching larger patient populations may require delivery strategies that do not depend on the complexity and cost of ex vivo cell manipulation. However, the speed at which that balance shifts will depend on how delivery technologies continue to develop.
Where Revvity fits in this picture
The themes emerging from ASGCT 2026 point to a field that is becoming more sophisticated across every stage of the development workflow, from vector characterization and engineering through to gene editing and delivery.
As the field moves from exploration toward navigation, researchers need technologies that transform biological complexity into actionable insight. At Revvity, we combine expertise across viral vector development, analytical characterization, targeted gene delivery, and next-generation precision genome engineering, enabling a more connected approach to the development of safer, more precise, and more scalable therapies.
For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
