Building Blocks for Biotech Builders
Deep dives into the business of science, biotech startups, and advances in science, technology, and medicine.
Delivery Approaches for RNA Therapeutics
Delivering RNA therapeutics effectively to the right cells without triggering the body's immune defenses is one of the biggest challenges in the field. Regardless of their specific functions or mechanisms, all RNA-based treatments need to navigate a complex biological landscape. They must reach the intended tissues, enter the correct cells within those tissues, and escape internal cellular traps called endosomes, all without being destroyed by the body's immune system or other biological processes.
The Modalities of RNA Therapeutics
The DNA inside each cell of our body consists of approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes, which accounts for only 1-2% of the entire human genome. From this same DNA come tens of millions of RNA molecules, the fundamental coding sequences for protein synthesis and the regulation of cellular functions. This creates the image that the human cell is simply a bag of RNA, an abstraction that highlights the relative abundance of RNA in cells and its crucial role in understanding health and disease.