Synthetic mRNA

Messenger RNA (“mRNA”) is a special class of molecules containing instructions that determine how cells function. Brooklyn’s platform is being designed to harness mRNA to engineer cells to treat disease by repairing disease-causing mutations and directing the formation of stem cells. Expressing reprogramming proteins by repeated transfection with protein-encoding RNA could avoid the limitations of both DNA and protein-based reprogramming techniques. However, transfection with long, in vitro-transcribed RNA triggers a potent innate immune response in human cells, even when the RNA is capped and polyadenylated to mimic eukaryotic mRNA. To address this problem, researchers have discovered methods of suppressing innate immunity, which enable frequent transfection with protein-encoding RNA.