Researchers from the RUG and partner organisations have sequenced the RNA of the Coronavirus
Researchers from the University of Groningen (RUG) have found ‘weak spots’ in the genetic material of the Coronavirus, which could serve as potential ‘targets’ for new drugs designed to combat the virus.
The RUG researchers conducted the research together with colleagues from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (Poland) and Leiden University, the GIC reports.
The research was coordinated by Danny Incarnato of the Molecular Genetics Department of the University of Groningen. The researchers have successfully sequenced the RNA of the Coronavirus (one of the longest viral RNAs known, with 30,000 bases), for the first time.
This joint research project of three institutes has thus laid a solid foundation for future work that should yield drugs that can be used to disable SARS-CoV2, and which may also work against other coronaviruses.
Janusz Bujnicki, Head of the Bioinformatics and Protein Design laboratory at IIMCB in Warsaw. “Together we have come up with a new way to find vulnerabilities in large viral RNAs. We have thus laid the foundation for the development of innovative RNA-targeting treatment methods to combat SARS-CoV2 infections. ”
More information is available via the RUG’s research page
