A joint research team led by Professor Kim Bitnaeri of Seoul National University's School of Life Sciences has made a significant contribution to the development of Corona 19 therapeutics.

The Institute of Basic Sciences said that Professor Kim Bitnaeri and Professor Hye-Sik Jang's research team have completed the world's first high-resolution genetic map of Sascoronavirus-2 after joint research with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sascoronavirus-2, which is the cause of corona19, has a gene in the form of RNA, not DNA, and when it penetrates into the human body, it produces variously modified sub-genome RNA. Gene mutations happen frequently.


So Professor Kim's team analyzed both the genome and RNA transcript of Sascoronavirus-2. It reveals what properties of this viral gene enable viral replication and how the virus transforms and multiplies.

The RNA Research Group led by Professor Kim also contributed to the treatment of incurable diseases such as cancer and genetic diseases by identifying the world's first three-dimensional structure of microRNA-producing materials in 2016. When RNA research is said to be the next-generation report of the Nobel Prize, Professor Kim is regarded as the Nobel Prize-winning candidate in the domestic scientific community.

This study is expected to be a key to developing more accurate diagnostic kits and new corona19 treatments in the future.

This is 'News Pick'.

(Photo = Basic Science Institute website capture, 'AsanMedicalCenter' YouTube capture, IBS provided / Yonhap News)