PAGE IN PROGRESS
Bronze Medal Criterion #3
Describe how and why you chose your iGEM project.
Please see the 2024 Medals Page for more information.
Introduction
Ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are an important class of biomolecules. The 4 canonical bases that exist in RNA are adenine, uracil, guanosine, and cytosine; with countless modifications possible to these bases.1
When polymerized, RNAs exhibit diverse functions, depending on their type.2
- messenger RNA (mRNA)
- transfer RNA (tRNA)
- ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
Motivations behind our project
- The focus on mRNA technology has heightened due to its recent applications in vaccines for COVID-19 and other diseases.3,4 Conventionally, the synthesis of mRNA products such as mRNA vaccines relies on the use of specific RNA polymerases (RNAPs) for in-vitro transcriptions (IVTs).5 However, existing polymerases suffer from shortcomings, such as poor processivity that hinders the synthesis of long transcripts.
- Hence, we seek to generate better enzymes for IVT. First, our project aims to generate a diverse library of RNAP variants using random mutagenesis. Second, we will screen for variants that show increased efficiency in RNA synthesis.
References
1
2
3 Qin, S., Tang, X., Chen, Y. et al. mRNA-based therapeutics: powerful and versatile tools to combat diseases. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 7, 166 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-022-01007-w
4 Corbett, K.S., Edwards, D.K., Leist, S.R. et al. SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness. Nature 586, 567–571 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2622-0
5 Kwon, S., Kwon, M., Im, S. et al. mRNA vaccines: the most recent clinical applications of synthetic mRNA. Archives of Pharmacal Research 45, 245–262 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-022-01381-7