For much of the past 50 years, genetic research has focused on the 2% of DNA that codes instructions for producing proteins - the molecules that do the work of keeping us alive.
And gene-driven drug discovery has focused on errors, or mutations, in that code, which result in abnormal proteins and ultimately disease. Despite significant advances in treating certain diseases, many more diseases continue to evade our best efforts.
Why aren't scientists looking at the other 98% of the genome for new breakthrough medicines? The reason is that the tools to reach the other 98% didn't exist.
But, recent scientific advances show that, in fact, regulatory regions in that other 98% control the expression of genes, turning them on, off, up or down, like dimmer switches. Although the billions of cells in our body all have the same DNA, it is these genomic switches that determine how a particular cell behaves - whether it is a skin cell or a lung cell, or whether it is normal or diseased.
These switches control the type and function of every cell by controlling which genes are expressed, when, and in what amounts.
When those genomic switches malfunction, the expression of many genes can be affected and the consequences can be profound, leading to everything from the common cold to cancer and heart disease.
Now, thanks to a confluence of scientific and technological breakthroughs, that 98% of the genome is finally within reach.
Syros has harnessed the power of its gene control platform to build our programs that control the expression of disease-driving genes with the aim of treating cancer.
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