Hammer Stock Blog

On the previous article , I discussed the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) and the great attention they have been receiving in the scientific industry. With every day that goes by, miRNAs gain more momentum and their cardinal role in biology is constantly being elucidated. Due to their importance and presence in such a wide range of creatures and medical conditions, from plants to humans, from cancer to women’s health, miRNA are making the migration from a scientific sensation to a huge commercial opportunity. This is great news for a company focused purely on miRNA such as Rosetta Genomics (ROSG), as after years of wandering alone in the desert, it may find itself at the heart of one of the hottest segments in the pharmaceutical industry.

The rationale behind miRNA-based drugs and diagnostics is straight forward. miRNAs are a group of genes which are involved in almost every biological process, as they control over a third of our genome. This central role makes them obvious “druggable” targets, which can be manipulated in order to treat diseases. Their central role might also make them ideal bio-markers for early-detection and diagnosis purposes, due to several advantages that will be described later on. The key in commercializing miRNA-based products is finding the relevant ones which are associated with a specific medical condition. The process starts by looking at the miRNA profile of healthy cells and compare it to that of cells with the particular condition or disease. The miRNAs that may serve as diagnostic markers or drug targets are those which have a different expression profile in the particular condition compared to normal cells.

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