mRNA SEMINAR
SERIES
with Dr. Natalie Farny

 

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Messaging to Medicine - An Introduction

WPI has partnered with Pfizer to deliver this introductory seminar series on mRNA: Messaging to Medicine, originally held in May, 2022. Messenger mRNA is used by all living things to translate the information in DNA into the proteins essential for cellular functions. In this series, we review the primary role of mRNA as a messenger between DNA and proteins, with a particular focus on the production, processing, and transport of mRNAs in human cells. From there, we move to an overview of the relevance of these processes to human disease states, as well as how mRNA is harnessed for novel therapeutic and biotechnology applications.

Our Presenter: Dr. Natalie Farny – WPI Assistant Professor of Biology and Biotechnology

A Ph.D. in Cell & Developmental Biology from Harvard University. Her contributions in the area of mRNA metabolism and translational control are recognized and published in Cell, Nature Medicine, and Genes and Development. Dr. Farny is the recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Assessment Tools for Biotechnology Products Early Career Award [2021] and the 2018 WPI Trustee’s Award for Outstanding Teaching.

 

 

Ready to learn more? View our 2 seminars on-demand, at your pace, for your convenience.

Seminar 1

Scope: “Basics of eukaryotic mRNA metabolism”

  • Basic mRNA structure/function
    • backbone, 5’ Cap, Poly A tail, 5’ and 3’ UTR, coding region – characteristics and purpose
  • mRNA in Cell
    • mRNA export (how transported to ribosome)
    • Translation, including local translation and translational control
    • mRNA turnover (breakdown following translation)
  • mRNA Modifications and modifying enzymes
    • modification types and purpose within the cell

Seminar 2

Scope: “Modification, manipulation, and therapeutic applications”

  • Modulating mRNAs
    • Controlling translation and stability
  • Synthetic RNA
    • Modifications and purpose
    • Synthetic mRNA function
    • Generating synthetic mRNA
  • Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP) for mRNA delivery
    • LNP-mRNA cellular uptake
    • Endosomal escape
    • Cellular function

Enter your pfizer credentials on the form to gain access to the seminars.

Questions? Feel free to reach out:

Michelle Scerbin
Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships
Office of Graduate Studies, WPI
mscerbin@wpi.edu

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