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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate.

New gene-editing system holds potential for treating many genetic disorders

Using a new gene-editing system based on bacterial proteins, MIT researchers have cured mice of a rare liver disorder caused by a single genetic mutation.

31 Mar 2014

RXi Pharmaceuticals provides business update, reports Q4 and full year 2013 financial results

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies addressing major unmet medical needs using RNA-targeted technologies, today reported its financial results for the full year 2013, and provided a business update.

29 Mar 2014

Idera Pharmaceuticals reports positive top-line results from Phase 2 trial of IMO-8400

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced positive top-line data from its randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled Phase 2 trial of IMO-8400 in 32 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

28 Mar 2014

Scientists identify two markers that predict patient's resistance to radiation therapy for cancer

An international team of researchers, led by Beaumont Health System's Jan Akervall, M.D., Ph.D., looked at biomarkers to determine the effectiveness of radiation treatments for patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck.

28 Mar 2014

Research pinpoints location of key genetic regulators in blood cells

Research published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, presents an unprecedented look at five unique blood cells in the human body, pinpointing the location of key genetic regulators in these cells and providing a new tool that may help scientists to identify how blood cells form and shed light on the etiology of blood diseases.

27 Mar 2014

UMass Medical School students win 2014 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award

Colin Conine and Emma Watson, PhD students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, received the 2014 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award for research into the mechanisms governing epigenetic inheritance and the complex interactions between diet, gene expression and physiology.

26 Mar 2014

Stem cell research opens doors to potential new treatments for bipolar disorder

What makes a person bipolar, prone to manic highs and deep, depressed lows? Why does bipolar disorder run so strongly in families, even though no single gene is to blame? And why is it so hard to find new treatments for a condition that affects 200 million people worldwide?

26 Mar 2014

Genable Technologies, Spark Therapeutics to advance novel therapy for rare form of retinitis pigmentosa

Spark Therapeutics and Genable Technologies announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement for Genable's lead therapeutic to treat rhodopsin-linked autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RHO adRP), GT038.

25 Mar 2014

Researchers develop mathematical model that provides insights about molecular mechanisms behind virus assembly

Mathematicians at the University of York have joined forces with experimentalists at the University of Leeds to take an important step in discovering how viruses make new copies of themselves during an infection.

25 Mar 2014

Rexahn provides updates on clinical development programs, reports full-year 2013 financial results

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing best-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, is providing an overview of its three clinical development programs and Year for the year ended December 31, 2013.

24 Mar 2014

Drugs fail to "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report that compounds they hoped would "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells - a strategy designed to reverse latency and make the cells vulnerable to destruction - have failed to do so in laboratory tests of such white blood cells taken directly from patients infected with HIV.

24 Mar 2014

New national research consortium focuses on better drug therapies for viral infections

Viral infections with limited or no treatment options can pose a major global health threat, but a new national research consortium centered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is focused on the discovery of new and better drug therapies as these viruses emerge.

24 Mar 2014

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Scientists at Indiana University have unlocked one of the mysteries of modern genetics: how acquired traits can be passed between generations in a process called epigenetic inheritance. The new work finds that cells don't know to silence some genes based on information hardwired into their DNA sequences, but recognize heritable chemical marks that are added to the genes. These chemical tags serve as a form of molecular memory, allowing cells to recognize the genes and remember to silence them again in each new generation.

21 Mar 2014

Researchers identify steps by which cell removes RNA from cytoplasm

RNA encodes the proteins that play a key role in cellular reproduction, but the manner in which cells regulate its removal once these proteins are synthesized remains a mystery. One piece of this mystery has been solved as researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who have identified the steps by which a cell removes RNA from the cytoplasm.

21 Mar 2014

Researchers find how Dom34 protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up cellular works

Using a powerful data-crunching technique, Johns Hopkins researchers have sorted out how a protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up the cellular works. The protein, Dom34, appears to “rescue” protein-making factories called ribosomes when they get stuck obeying defective genetic instructions, the researchers report in the Feb. 27 issue of Cell.

20 Mar 2014

Novel feedback provides mechanistic link between chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis

Researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have discovered a novel feedback mechanism that provides a mechanistic link between chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis.

20 Mar 2014

Neurexin proteins play key role in formation of synaptic connections

Neuroscientists and bioengineers at Stanford are working together to solve a mystery: how does nature construct the different types of synapses that connect neurons -- the brain cells that monitor nerve impulses, control muscles and form thoughts.

19 Mar 2014

Lung cancer cells use novel mechanism to block detection by natural killer cell

The immune system plays a pivotal role in targeting cancer cells for destruction. However, tumor cells are smart and have developed ways to avoid immune detection.

19 Mar 2014

Chemical engineers design way to manufacture peptides in mere hours

Small protein fragments, also called peptides, are promising as drugs because they can be designed for very specific functions inside living cells. Insulin and the HIV drug Fuzeon are some of the earliest successful examples, and peptide drugs are expected to become a $25 billion market by 2018.

19 Mar 2014

Trovagene reports net loss of $1 million for fourth quarter 2013

Trovagene, Inc., a developer of cell-free molecular diagnostics, today reported its financial results for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2013.

18 Mar 2014

RNA News and Research

Further Reading

New gene-editing system holds potential for treating many genetic disorders

RXi Pharmaceuticals provides business update, reports Q4 and full year 2013 financial results

Idera Pharmaceuticals reports positive top-line results from Phase 2 trial of IMO-8400

Scientists identify two markers that predict patient's resistance to radiation therapy for cancer

Research pinpoints location of key genetic regulators in blood cells

UMass Medical School students win 2014 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award

Stem cell research opens doors to potential new treatments for bipolar disorder

Genable Technologies, Spark Therapeutics to advance novel therapy for rare form of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers develop mathematical model that provides insights about molecular mechanisms behind virus assembly

Rexahn provides updates on clinical development programs, reports full-year 2013 financial results

Drugs fail to "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells

New national research consortium focuses on better drug therapies for viral infections

Scientists unlock one of mysteries of modern genetics

Researchers identify steps by which cell removes RNA from cytoplasm

Researchers find how Dom34 protein keeps defective genetic material from gumming up cellular works

Novel feedback provides mechanistic link between chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis

Neurexin proteins play key role in formation of synaptic connections

Lung cancer cells use novel mechanism to block detection by natural killer cell

Chemical engineers design way to manufacture peptides in mere hours

Trovagene reports net loss of $1 million for fourth quarter 2013

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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