RNA is central to the research in the lab of Ulf Andersson Vang Ørom. The current project investigates how modification of RNA can lead to disease. RNA is an unstable copy of DNA with a crucial role in transferring the genetic code into biological molecules. The process of making RNA is controlled at several levels, including splicing, where non-functional parts of RNA is removed and the final molecule transmitting information is made.

RNA is created with a simple alphabet containing four different building blocks. Modifications to these building blocks result in a code with more than 100 different letters, creating a complex storage system for genetic information. Splicing is one of the processes that can be affected by RNA modifications, and uncontrolled splicing can lead to disease. Understanding RNA modifications in splicing is therefore an important goal to identify causes for onset and development of disease.

The aim of the funded project is to identify uncharacterized RNA modifications with a role in splicing and cancer and in the long term use this knowledge to develop drugs targeted against RNA modifications.

About the Lundbeck Foundation Ascending Investigators grant

With this grant, the Lundbeck Foundation wishes to support established and talented biomedical researchers at Danish universities and non-commercial research institutes. The grant will allow researchers to develop their careers and strengthen their potential to make scientific breakthroughs in biomedical research. The Lundbeck Foundation has just distributed 20 of these grants of DKK 5 million to leading Danish biomedical researchers.

For further information, please contact

Associate Professor Ulf Andersson Vang Ørom
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Aarhus University, Denmark
ulf.orom@mbg.au.dk - Mobile: +45 22288766