The project Universal biochemistry of RNA in the cold, coordinated by Prof. Fèlix Ritort has been awarded with the Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP)

The project Universal biochemistry of RNA in the cold, coordinated by Prof. Fèlix Ritort has been awarded with the Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP).

The project Universal biochemistry of RNA in the cold, coordinated by Prof. Fèlix Ritort, from Small Biosystems Lab, has been awarded with 1200000 USD for three years from the Human Frontiers (HFSP). The project, in collaboration with the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK) and the Dept. of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA) aims at unveiling the secrets of RNA in the cold. Life exists even in the coldest environments on earth, however little is known about how RNA molecules needed for all living things continue to function at subzero temperatures. By a multidisciplinary approach researchers will determine how low temperatures influence RNA structure and function to understand cold adaptation in present-day psychrophilic biota and conditions for the emergence of life since primordia. This project is based on a recently discover, led by Prof. Fèlix Ritort, published at PNAS: Universal cold RNA phase transitions. Rissone, P.; Severino, A.; Pastor, I.; Ritort, F. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), August 2024.