NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Monrovia, CA, United States, 2013/03/26 - Mark Kay, Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at Stanford University, will give a keynote presentation on microRNAs at the 4th RNAi Research & Therapeutics Conference on June 20-21, 2013 in San Francisco, CA - GTCbio.com.

Recent studies suggest that there is a great deal of variation in the way that different long primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) and precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs) are processed in cells. As a result, there is a great deal of heterogeneity in the generation of the final population of bio-active miRNA molecules. Variation in miRNA processing likely influences the degree to which specific gene regulatory pathways are regulated.

Professor Kay will discuss how investigating the mechanisms by which these miRNAs are made have aided him and his lab in designing improved vector-based transcriptional RNAi approaches that result in higher levels of efficacy and fewer off-targeting effects. He will describe how these new designs and approaches to deliver them into humans to treat serious diseases, as well as discuss how miRNAs that are generated or function through non-canonical processes hold important insights into additional approaches that might be used for disease intervention.

Mark A. Kay, MD, PhD, is the Dennis Farrey Family Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics, Human Gene Therapy Division Head, and Vice Chair for Basic Research in Pediatrics at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. His work has led to the discovery and development of minicircle DNA vectors for genetic modification of cells in vitro and in vivo, and his laboratory was the first to demonstrate functional RNAi in whole mammals including their ability to inhibit human viral replication in vivo. Dr. Kay is one of the founders of the American Society of Gene Therapy and served as the President in 2005-2006, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society. In 2013, he received the Outstanding Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

GTC’s 4th RNAi Research & Therapeutics Conference will provide a forum for leaders from academia and industry to share their perspective and progress in RNA delivery and validation applications and network with fellow scientists and principle investigators to discuss the future of RNA-related discovery.

The conference is part of the Nucleic Acid Summit 2013, which includes two other exciting meetings:

- Bioinformatics & Data Management Strategies Workshop
- 3rd Next-Generation Sequencing Conference

Agency / Source: GTCbio - Biopharmaceutical Conference

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