Abstract
With the first diagnostics set to debut within a year, the new research and
development field of microRNAs is beginning to reveal its potential. This new
report establishes a baseline for observing microRNAs' maturation, including
assessments of:
- The science and analysis of first-generation microRNA commercial
applications
- The early adaptors and where they are heading with this emerging technology
- Clinical applications, which will begin in oncology, followed by
infectious diseases, neurology, metabolic disorders, and cardiovascular
diseases
- The youthfulness of the field of microRNA
- The status of the field, including promises and caveats, companies
involved, and pertinent patents and intellectual property
- Companies that are either developing microRNAs as clinical tools,
investigating microRNAs in basic research, or supplying reagents, kits,
microarrays, bioinformatics tools, and other essentials
The report also includes interviews with experts at some of the companies
involved, including those devoted to microRNAs, those at which microRNAs
comprise part of the portfolio, and companies that enable the others. In
addition, results of a quantitative online survey of individuals involved in
microRNA R&D are included.
MicroRNAs are a class of small, nonprotein-encoding endogenous RNA molecules
that exert powerful effects on gene expression by destabilizing transcription
and/or repressing translation of target messenger RNAs. They have profound
functions, which scientists are just beginning to tease out. More than 5,000
microRNAs have been identified.
The human genome sequence encodes hundreds to thousands of microRNAs, and they
regulate at least a third of the protein-encoding genes. MicroRNAs'
malfunction may lie behind many illnesses.
From an initial unheralded description in 1993 and then a set of stellar
foundation papers around the turn of the millennium, microRNAs have been
hurtling toward commercialization ever since. Recognition of the importance of
microRNAs catalyzed development of tools and technologies to ease their
investigation. And as more has been learned, bioinformatics prediction tools
have evolved. The many kits developed for working with microRNAs have made
possible the debut of the first clinical products in under a decade from the
recognition of their discovery.
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