RNA | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nov 1, 2024 · Nanoparticle-delivered RNA reduces neuroinflammation in lab tests. MIT researchers find that in mice and human cell cultures, lipid nanoparticles can deliver a potential therapy for inflammation in the brain, a prominent symptom in Alzheimer’s. December 15, …
Taking RNAi from interesting science to impactful new treatments
May 13, 2024 · Caption: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is translating the promise of RNA interference (RNAi) research into a new class of powerful, gene-based therapies. In this rendering, the green strand is the targeted mRNA, and the white object is the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that can prevent the expression of the target mRNA’s proteins.
Explained: RNA interference | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute …
Nov 12, 2009 · Through a naturally occurring phenomenon known as RNA interference, short strands of RNA can selectively intercept and destroy messenger RNA before it delivers its instructions. Scientists are now pursuing disease treatments based on RNA interference (RNAi), which offers the tantalizing ability to shut down any gene in the body. “With RNAi ...
MIT engineers design more powerful RNA vaccines - MIT News
Sep 7, 2023 · By tweaking the design of the vaccines, the researchers showed that they could generate Covid-19 RNA vaccines that produce a stronger immune response, at a lower dose, in mice. Adjuvants are molecules commonly used to increase the immune response to vaccines, but they haven’t yet been used in RNA vaccines. In this study, the MIT researchers ...
Convenience-sized RNA editing - MIT News
May 31, 2022 · The discovery of Cas7-11 opened the doors to a more precise form of RNA editing, analogous to the Cas9 enzyme for DNA. However, the massive Cas7-11 protein was too big to fit inside a single viral vector — the empty shell of a virus that researchers typically use to deliver gene editing machinery into patient’s cells. Structural insight.
RNA molecules are masters of their own destiny - MIT News
Jan 5, 2021 · A collaboration between biologists and physicists suggests that RNA is a feedback regulator of its own production. Low concentrations of RNA lead to the formation of transcriptional condensates (represented here as bubbles), and high levels lead to the dissolution of those condensates. Credits. Image: Jennifer Cook-Chrysos/Whitehead Institute.
New technique reveals how gene transcription is coordinated
Jun 5, 2024 · Additionally, eRNA lacks a modification known as a poly-A tail, which is the “hook” that most techniques use to pull RNA out of a cell. One way to capture eRNA is to add a nucleotide to cells that halts transcription when incorporated into RNA. These nucleotides also contain a tag called biotin that can be used to fish the RNA out of a cell.
Explained: Why RNA vaccines for Covid-19 raced to the front
Dec 11, 2020 · Developing and testing a new vaccine typically takes at least 12 to 18 months. However, just over 10 months after the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was published, two pharmaceutical companies applied for FDA emergency use authorization of vaccines that appear to be highly effective against the virus.
New programmable gene editing proteins found outside of
Sep 15, 2021 · For example, CRISPR enzymes naturally use an RNA guide to target viral invaders, but biologists can direct Cas9 to any target by generating their own RNA guide. “It's so easy to just change a guide sequence and set a new target,” says Soumya Kannan, MIT graduate student in biological engineering and co-first author of the paper.
Researchers uncover a new CRISPR-like system in animals that
Jun 28, 2023 · Researchers have discovered the first programmable RNA-guided system discovered in eukaryotes. The technology, known as Fanzor, has the potential to be more easily delivered to cells and tissues than CRISPR-Cas systems, and further refinements could make them a valuable new technology for human genome editing.