Viruses help researchers to introduce genes into cells so that they can produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, for example. Special peptides stimulate the process. Until now, however, the efficiency increase was poorly understood. A team of researchers from the MPI for Polymer Research, the University of Ulm, the British University of Cambridge and Wageningen University in the Netherlands has now shed some light on the subject and also developed a cost-effective peptide. The team published its results in the journal „Advanced Functional Materials“.