Page 2 - RNA Biology | University of Rochester Medical Center

RNA Biology: A Revolutionary Approach

to Treating Disease

RNA biology is an exploding area of medicine. It holds amazing promise for
the treatment of humanity’s most challenging diseases including muscular
dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, drug-resistant bacterial infections, and cancer.

Almost all inheritable and acquired diseases are caused by faulty RNA, making
it a target for disease therapy. Yet many people have never even heard of this
field of research.

In the last few years, though, mainstream media has begun to report on
the stunning breakthroughs being made in RNA biology. Many of those
breakthroughs are happening right here at the University of Rochester
Medical Center.

Our Center for RNA Biology is a world-class program. The significance of its
work cannot be underestimated. The research we are performing may prevent
or cure diseases in ways that were impossible just a few years ago.
Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D.

CEO, University of Rochester Medical Center We are proud to be at the forefront of this revolutionary work―work that
could have an impact on adults and children in our community, the nation,
and the world.

Join us by supporting the center that is a world leader in RNA biology. You
will be accelerating research that has the potential to help solve the most
challenging problems in human health.

Best Regards,

Dr. Bradford C. Berk, ’81M (MD), ’81M (PhD)

ON THE COVER: Dr. Lynne Maquat, director of the Center for RNA Biology, and Dr. Michael
Gleghorn, a postdoctoral fellow in the Maquat Lab, use X-ray crystallography to produce a
high-resolution, three-dimensional image of the shape and atomic structure of a RNA-binding
protein that has been crystallized. The image will provide an understanding of how proteins
regulate RNA function in cells.