Long Non-Coding RNA Genes as Druggable Causes of Human Disease

We are living in the post-genomic century. The Human Genome Project (2003) was succeeded by the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) and FANTOM (Functional Annotation of Mammalian cDNA) international consortia, in which Prof. Lipovich directly participated (2004-2017), contributing to the key discovery that humans have 60,000 genes, of which fewer than 20,000 encode proteins. The functional significance of our 40,000 non-protein-coding RNA genes, which (aside from small numbers of short RNA, including microRNA, host genes and specialized “classical” RNAs) primarily encode previously uncharacterized lncRNA transcripts, remains an enduring mystery. Prof. Lipovich's work focuses on key questions at the interface of evolutionary genomics, RNA biology, and precision medicine:

o What makes primates uniquely primate, and humans uniquely human? 

o How do primate-specific lncRNAs contribute to cancer, and to metabolic diseases – including type 2 diabetes and obesity – in humans?

o Are the numerous DNA sequence differences between "healthy" and "sick" people merely "genetic markers," or do these differences directly represent previously-overlooked drug targets?