KI researchers receive ERC Synergy grant for mRNA research

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-By “decoding” mRNA, we can better understand and manipulate genes to produce desired effects. He says it has the potential to be revolutionary Vicente Bellicianosenior researcher at Department of Microbiology, Oncology and Cell Biology At Karolinska Institutet.

While our DNA contains information in the form of our genetic code, this information is converted into useful instructions via mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).

Evolution over 500 million years

With its help, cells produce proteins that are the building blocks of physiological function – and this process is regulated by how mRNA is interpreted.

-If DNA is a book, then mRNA is the instructions on how to interpret the book. The core of the EPIC project is understanding that interpretive process. Our international team combines expertise in genetics, systems biology, synthetic biology and machine learning. This ERC grant enables us to focus on understanding gene regulation and evolution over a time period of 500 million years. It’s as big an evolutionary distance as between us and starfish, says Vicente Pellicano.

By feeding large amounts of data into a machine learning system specifically designed for genetic information, researchers will analyze how genes have evolved and how the changes they have undergone affect how cells use the information.

Computer generated cells

Ultimately, the goal is to be able to have a computer predict either how a cell will use certain information, or for researchers to be able to ask a computer to design the gene they want.

Cooperation between the three countries is one of the main challenges of the project, according to Vicente Pellicano. But he also sees it as an opportunity to expand the horizons of knowledge.

– A project like this requires interdisciplinary and international collaboration.

An ERC grant gives researchers the time and opportunity to expand understanding of how life works.

We can take a step away from specific medical applications, such as the biology of infection or cancer, and focus on the basic mechanisms that control these processes. You have to understand how life works on a basic level if you want to solve a problem or alleviate an illness, says Vicente Pellicano.