Why rings of RNA could be the next blockbuster drug
Elie Dolgin • October 4, 2023
The commercial success of RNA vaccines for COVID-19 has revved up interest in circular RNAs as the next generation of therapies.
RNA-based vaccines were the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. They set records for the highest-grossing drug launches in history, and their development was recognized in this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
But it was long known that this technology had a key shortcoming: RNA, in its usual linear form, is short-lived. Within hours, enzymes in cells descend on the molecule, chewing it to pieces.
RNA’s fleeting nature isn’t a big problem for a vaccine: it needs to encode proteins only for a short time to trigger an immune response. But for most therapeutic applications, it would be much better to have RNA that could stick around for longer.
That’s where circular RNAs, or circRNAs, come in.
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