RNA therapeutics
RNA therapeutics are a class of medications based on ribonucleic acid (RNA).

The main types are those based on messenger RNA (mRNA), antisense RNA (asRNA), RNA interference (RNAi), and RNA aptamers.

Of the four types, mRNA-based therapy is the only type which is based on triggering synthesis of proteins within cells, making it particularly useful in vaccine development. Antisense RNA is complementary to coding mRNA and is used to trigger mRNA inactivation to prevent the mRNA from being used in protein translation. RNAi-based systems use a similar mechanism, and involve the use of both small interfering RNA (siRNA) and micro RNA (miRNA) to prevent mRNA translation. However, RNA aptamers are short, single stranded RNA molecules produced by directed evolution to bind to a variety of biomolecular targets with high affinity thereby affecting their normal "in vivo" activity.

RNA is synthesized from template DNA by RNA polymerase with messenger RNA (mRNA) serving as the intermediary biomolecule between DNA expression and protein translation. Because of its unique properties (such as its typically single-stranded nature and its 2' OH group) as well as its ability to adopt many different secondary/tertiary structures, both coding and noncoding RNAs have attracted special attention in medicine. Research has begun to explore RNAs potential to be used for therapeutic benefit, and unique challenges have occurred during drug discovery and implementation of RNA therapeutics.

In 2020 mRNA vaccines have been developed for use in combating coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 pandemic).
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medication
Concept
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ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Concept
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messenger RNA
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antisense RNA
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RNA interference
Concept
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aptamer
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synthesis of proteins
Concept
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small interfering RNA
Concept
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micro RNA
MISC
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directed evolution
Concept
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messenger RNA
Concept
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Concept
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protein translation
Concept
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mRNA vaccine
Concept
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coronavirus disease 2019
Concept
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RNA therapeutics
Concept
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RNA therapeutics
Concept
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