RNA Biology

In recent years RNA has increasingly gained attention of life sciences researchers as a key regulator of molecular processes in living organisms. This renewed interest was mainly sparked by the discovery of miRNA and other important non-coding RNAs, as well as the development of transcriptomics technologies such as microarray technology and next-generation sequencing.

The importance of RNA is underlined by the fact that it is estimated that over 70% of the human genome is transcribed into RNA, while less than 2% of the total genomic sequences encode the ~25,000 protein-coding genes. This is evidence for a major role of RNA in many cellular processes, such as gene-expression regulation, epigenetic regulation, splicing, signal transduction, molecular transport and localization.

To gain insight in the regulatory roles of RNA, our research focusses on the characterization of maternal RNAs and cell-free RNAs combined with research to the dynamics of these transcriptome components. As we have our own next-generation systems (IonProton and NextSeq 550), we will also try to discover new types of (small)RNA or use smallRNAs as biomarkers.

Current research lines RNA Biology

• smallRNA in disease and development
• Battling plant-virus superspreading by humans

Former research lines RNA Biology:

• Transcriptome dynamics
• RNA as a genetic information carrier

This kind of research demands the use of advanced omics technologies and associated bioinformatics. Since omics bioinformatics are still immature, we also do Applied Bioinformatics research on how to optimally design an omics experiment, analyze the data, and interpret the results.