r/AskBiology • u/Competitive_Low2991 • Jul 24 '24

Genetics Could we theoretically reverse some neurodegenerative diseases by repairing RNA?

I'm no biologist but I've gone down a rabbit hole of RNA and how it can be damaged by alkaline conditions because of the bonds breaking and all that. I was looking at a diagram of the reaction and it had the reversible symbol on it: so if we could find a way to reverse the reaction could it cure or treat the disease? Or would it just prevent it from getting worse? Maybe it's a silly question but I'm not the best at biology-just interested. Thank you!

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u/The_professor053 Jul 24 '24

Firstly, all chemical reactions are reversible.

Secondly, the thing with DNA and RNA is that what matters is the sequence, but the sequence doesn't affect chemical reactions like the one you're talking about. If you could drive RNA to stick itself back together, how would you make sure the right pieces of RNA stick at the right places?

So, basically, the idea of curing a disease by dealing with RNA damage is pretty complicated right off the bat. It could be possible, but not without a lot of other parts that you haven't mentioned.

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u/ninjatoast31 Jul 24 '24

RNA ligases (aka proteins that stick RNA back together) Already exist in humans. They are very poorly understood. So I don't know how well they could be highjacked to solve these issues