Researchers at the University of Northern BC have discovered a new way to study gene splicing.
Chemistry Professor Doctor Stephen Rader says his team has found a new way to study the splicing behind the most basic organisms in humans.
He likes to break it down with a simple analogy.
“The analogy I like to use is that if you are a Martian who arrived on Earth and you saw people being carried around in cars, you really wouldn’t have any idea what a car was or how it worked,” he says. “If you took apart an SUV, it would be really complicated, whereas if you discovered a bicycle, that really strips it down to the most essential parts.”
He says this research can lead to new treatments for genetic diseases.
“for example, Cystic Fibrosis is an important disease in that class, spinal muscular atrophy , there are a number of inherited diseases like retinitis pigmentosa, which is a degenerative eye disease.”
Rader stresses that they are many steps away from a cure, but fewer steps than before, understanding how the process works.
“At this point of the game, we’re really just trying to understand how the process works,” he says. “Once we understand how the process works normally, then we can understand what goes wrong with those diseases and at that point try to cure them.”