Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
2025 RNA Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference and Seminar - PROJECT SUMMARY This R13 application requests partial funding to support the upcoming Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on RNA Nanotechnology, which will be held in Ventura, CA on Jan 5–10, 2025, and the associated Gordon Research Symposium (GRS), to precede it on Jan 4–5. The meeting will be co-chaired by Dolores Di Vizio and Mark Bathe, who served as the co-vice chairs of the third GRC in January 2023, elected in 2019 at the same GRC Meeting. Vice-chairs are Nils Walter and Alissa Weaver. RNA nanotechnology continues to grow as an important field, with active research being carried out to elucidate fundamental principles of, and develop innovative approaches to, the design and construction of RNA assemblies for diagnostic, therapeutic, and structural applications in biotechnology and medicine. The pace of discovery and innovation in RNA nanotechnology has significantly accelerated in the past two years with the success of the mRNA vaccines that helped mitigate the spread of COVID19, which has spurred major research activity in other forms of mRNA vaccines including principally also cancer vaccines. RNA nanotechnology is built on the unique properties of RNA, including its structural versatility, its known biological functions, its ease of production and functionalization, and its programmability, which altogether make it an ideal platform on which to build self-assembling architectures with a variety of functional attributes for biomedical applications. This GRC focuses on linking fundamental studies of RNA sequence, modifications, and structure to self-assembly and packaging to inform translational studies using RNA nanotechnology in therapeutics and diagnostics with in situ characterization. The 2025 meeting will cover a range of topics in nine sessions. Sessions on Structure-based Elucidation of RNA Function, RNA Therapeutics, RNA Modifications, RNA Delivery, RNA Imaging & Characterization In Situ , RNA Immunology, RNA Cargo Selection, Transport, and Processing, RNA-based Diagnostics and Biomarkers, and RNA Synthetic Biology will feature cutting-edge research on the molecular basis of nucleic acid architectures and modifications, design and characterization of RNA for cancer vaccines and therapeutics, and biophysical approaches to study and predict RNA function. Sessions on RNA cargo selection in extracellular vesicles, RNA immunology, and RNA therapeutics will provide perspectives on the discovery, isolation, and application of RNA from extracellular vesicles and learnings from viruses with an emphasis on translational aspects of natural and synthetic RNAs in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The 2025 conference will continue to emphasize robust representation of women and minority scientists. The invited speakers and discussion leaders will include a mix of established researchers in the field and outstanding junior-level investigators from around the world. The meeting will be advertised to a diverse audience to include early career and under-represented minority scientists in the RNA nanotechnology and related fields. A Power Hour will feature topics of diversity, inclusion, and opportunity for under-represented scientists.
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