Research being conducted at the University of Northern British Columbia has the potential to lead to the creation of a new weapon to help combat disease and genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy.

Dr. Stephen Rader, researcher Kelly Aukema, UNBC grad Kam Chohan, and their collaborators have successfully controlled a genetic activity known as “splicing” in yeast that is known to lead to disease and genetic disorders in humans. The results will be published next month in an international chemistry journal.
 
“Yeast genes are very similar to the pathogens that cause disease, and we have found that certain chemicals obstruct the splicing process in the yeast while leaving human genes alone,” says Dr. Rader, a chemistry professor. “If we can do this in people, it will be a powerful weapon against illness.”

Gene splicing is a naturally occurring process that involves “cutting” out unnecessary portions of a gene and “pasting” the remaining parts together. The process is essential to the survival of many organisms - including humans. Geneticists can mimic the process to repair genes or, as in the case of Dr. Rader’s team, impede its progress altogether.

“The body’s gene splicing process is so fundamental that if something goes wrong, more often than not, it will kill you,” says Dr. Rader. “Splicing errors are also the cause of genetic disorder.”

The work has many potential longer-term applications in the struggle to understand genetic complications, such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and cancer. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Dr. Rader. “We hope to use these compounds to understand how splicing works under normal conditions in a human being. Doing this will make it easier to comprehend what is going wrong when genetic disorder occurs.”

UNBC organic chemists Guy Plourde and Kerry Reimer also contributed to this research.

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Dr. Stephen Rader and Dr. Kelly Aukema. Visit the Rader Lab.