Cracking the Code: The Dawn of Nucleic Acid Medicines- Nature Conferences

The conference discussed the development of nucleic acid medicines — both the recent clinical successes and current and upcoming challenges. By bringing together academics in basic and translational research and their peers in thriving biotechnology companies and promising start-ups, the conference aimed to foster dialog and spearhead collaborations. The first day (October 17, 2023) brought awareness of R&D driven by biotechnology companies developing nucleic acid medicines and discussed career paths for students and early career researchers to become the next generation of leaders in biotechnology. The following two days discussed what should be learned from late-stage and approved nucleic acid gene therapies and vaccines and highlighted promising preclinical therapeutic modalities — in particular, genome and epigenome editing, and the design of new RNA therapeutics — and machine learning and bioinformatic tools accelerating the development of emerging nucleic acid therapies and vaccines.