PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - A technical breakthrough in gene splicing by experts at the University of Northern B.C. may lead to better understanding of genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and certain types of dwarfism.
UNBC chemistry professor Stephen Rader says it's a puzzle researchers have been trying to piece together for about 30 years.
Gene splicing involves cutting out part of the DNA in a gene and adding new DNA in its place, changing and repairing the function of the gene.
The UNBC team discovered that a region of the molecule, known as U4, is essential for assembling the splicing machinery.
Up until now, experts had thought the molecule played no role in the splicing process.
The research will be presented at a Western Canada conference on RNA, or ribonucleic acid, being held Monday and Tuesday at the Prince George, B.C., university.
The discovery stems from a component of a master's project of recent UNBC graduate Amy Hayduk.
Rader noted that they have also discovered a new way to study what the molecule is doing in the test tube.
"We found mutations in U4 that make it better than normal at assembling the splicing machinery, but worse at the actual splicing reaction," he said in a news release. "It leaves before the actual splicing happens, so it is apparently only there to help put things together."
Rader said they didn't don't understand how or why the molecule acts that way.
"This is as if you were tinkering with the ignition on your car and managed to make the ignition work better, but then discovered that, even though the car starts better, it no longer runs."
