Ira Pastor, founder of Bioquark and ideaXme exponential health ambassador interviews Professor Lorna Harries, Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Exeter Medical School. (If you would like to donate to ideaXme please visit
Ira Pastor comments: Today, as we continue our discussions on ideaXme pertaining to the biological hierarchy of life, we are going to journey into what I refer to as the "metabolic architecture of the cell", and all of the fascinating dynamics that surround our genomes and allow the information encoded within to impact the on-going physiological states of our health, disease, and aging processes
In doing so we will segway into a discussion around a category of biologic entities, broadly known as Ribonucleic acids (or RNA).
RNA is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles including coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes.
Cellular organisms use one of the primary forms of RNA, messenger RNA (mRNA) to convey genetic information from our DNA to direct synthesis of specific proteins integral in appropriate gene expression across our cell lineages.
RNA silencing or "RNA interference" (RNAi) is the process by which protein production from a gene is turned off and the term RNA therapeutics", means either the use of one of the other forms of regulatory RNAs (e.g., siRNAs, microRNA) directly as a therapeutic agent and/or the modulation of RNA-based processes with more traditional drugs (e.g., small molecules).
Because RNA is central to all biological processes, there are numerous potential avenues for addressing human disorders at the RNA level including many chronic degenerative diseases, infections, and eve aging processes themselves.
So. our guest today, who is an expert in this unique domain of biology, who is going to take us further into the topic, is Professor Lorna Harries, Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Exeter Medical School.
Dr. Harries has a PhD in Molecular Genetics from University College London, and set up the "RNA-Mediated Mechanisms of Disease Group" at the University of Exeter Medical School in 2006.
Her team has a special focus on how RNA biology can influence both normal and disease states, from large-scale "omics" approaches, down to detailed assessment of specific mechanisms in specific genes.
Dr. Harries leads the group?s investigation into how and why we age, and the reason age is a major risk factor in diseases like type 2 diabetes. Her goal is to use the information the group uncovers to develop a new generation of anti-degenerative drugs.
As many age-related diseases have common roots, causes and mechanisms, which arise from the failure of a few basic health-maintenance mechanisms that decline in efficiency as we age, the Harries lab feels by focusing and by targeting them, they will eventually be able to target multiple age-related diseases at once.
Dr. Harries has written over 90 peer-reviewed articles and was awarded the Diabetes UK RD Lawrence Prize Lectureship in 2011. She is co-ordinator of the annual UEMS. Men in White? school outreach with Dr. John Chilton, an event brings in year 9 students from schools stretching from South Devon to North Somerset and gives them hands-on experience of work in a research laboratory.
Dr. Harries is also is a STEMnet ambassador and also an Exeter Catalyst Champion for Public Engagement.
On this show we will hear from Dr. Harries:
About her background, how she got interested in science, in molecular biology, and how she finds herself at the forefront of RNA biology and therapeutics.
About the history of RNA therapeutics and why according to her recent Nature article. We discuss is time for scientists to shout about RNA therapies?
An overview of RNA splicing, the spliceosome, and splicing factors, and their respective roles in human ageing.
About her:
-- work in RNA regulation of human cellular? senescence
- work in RNA regulation of Diabetes type 2
- future visions for her work
Future conferences and talks by Prof Harries see links on the ideaXme blog: www.radioideaxme.com
6th Annual Middle East Diabetes Conference Dubai 29-30 Jan 2020
Splicing 2020 meeting Capirica 12-16 July 2020.
Allergan Science of Aging meeting Monaco 30th March -1st April 2020 (dates provisional!).
Longevity Leaders London April 21-22 2020.
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