The Future of Medicine: New Invention Produces More Pure RNA at a Fraction of the Cost

Recently, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst revealed their discovery of a new RNA production process. The RNA resulting from this process is purer, more copious, and probably more economical than any other process currently in existence. This new technique removes the most significant hurdle on the path to next-generation RNA therapeutic drugs.

If DNA is the diagram that tells the cells in our bodies what proteins to make and what for, RNA is the carrier of the DNA’s instruction to the actual protein-making machinery within each cell. Most of the time, this procedure works smoothly, yet when it does not, when the body cannot produce the protein it requires, as in the case of an illness like cystic fibrosis, a severe illness can occur.

One way to treat these protein deficiencies is to use treatments that replace the deficient protein. However, researchers have long known that it would be more effective if the body could produce the proteins it needs. The goal of RNA treatment is the surgency a new medical field. The issue is that current methods of producing RNA in the laboratory cannot cost-effectively deliver pure RNA in sufficient quantities. Elvan Cavaç, the lead author of a recently published treatise, says to the Journal of Biological Chemistry that we need a lot of RNA . He is an MBA student at UMass Amherst and recently completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at UMass. “We have developed a new process for manufacturing pure RNA. This process can reuse your components and produce 3 to 10 times more RNA than traditional methods, saving time and money. I can. “

The problem with impure RNA is that it can cause harmful reactions such as bloating and even fatal reactions. For example, impure RNA can cause inflammation in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Traditionally produced RNA requires a time-consuming and expensive purification process. “There is no need to purify RNA, and Craig Martin, the lead author of this article and professor of chemistry at UMass, said: “I have discovered a way to make clean RNA from scratch. “

The process detailed by Cavaç, Martin, and their co-authors begins with increasing the salinity of the solution in which the RNA is produced. This suppresses uncontrolled RNA production that leads to impurities. In this process, an enzyme called T7 RNA polymerase is “attached” too thin magnetic beads, along with a DNA promoter template, which is a specific DNA sequence that encodes a specific RNA. An interaction between a polymerase and the DNA promoter produces RNA that is purified by specific saline. “Our method can be more than ten times better at manufacturing pure RNA than the current process,” says Martin.

Cavaç, Martin, and their colleagues are now looking for experiments that will allow them to increase RNA production to meet society’s needs. “The real goal here is to have a ‘flow reactor,’ a continuous pipeline that can slowly deliver components and continuously deliver pure RNA at the other end,” Martin says

Originally published on Scitechdaily.com. Read the original article.

Reference: Elvan Cavac, Luis E. Ramírez-Tapia, Craig T. Martin, “High-salt transcription of DNA co-bound with T7 RNA polymerase to beads increases yield of high-purity RNA”, August 2021 Journal of Biological Chemistry.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center and the Manning Innovation Program at UMass Amherst.