Rendering of ribosome

RNA Therapeutic Discovery Initiative

RNA innovation and the biomedical marketplace

Researchers are just beginning to glimpse the potential of this research for its importance to human health. UC Santa Cruz foresees this powerful research contributing to the future economic prosperity of California and the Santa Cruz region by creating new opportunities in the biomedical marketplace.

To catalyze this process, UC Santa Cruz recently created the RNA Therapeutic Discovery Initiative that will leverage the power of its RNA faculty’s research for the understanding and treatment of rare diseases. This initiative will support projects that seek to understand why and how RNA instructions sometimes make errors that lead to disease; it will accelerate discovery of drugs that will correct these errors or treat diseases; and it will stimulate the use of RNA therapeutics in the practice of precision medicine.

UCSC is also educating students to be future innovation leaders in this field, and many are already pursuing careers in the biotech industry. The UCSC RNA curriculum gives aspiring industry leaders a multidisciplinary technical background necessary to pursue careers in start-ups or in companies that will safely and rapidly propel lab research into new tools and treatments for the world.

Last modified: Oct 22, 2024