Difference between revisions of "Team:EpiphanyNYC/Description"

Latest revision as of 22:03, 1 November 2017

Our Motivation

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, meaning that if one allele out of two carries the HTT mutation the HD gene will produce the faulty protein of Huntingtin. Therefore, the children of an individual suffering from HD will have a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene if they do not express it themselves. According to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, the “quintessential family disease” and the ability of this disease to wreak such devastating and overarching damage on an individual and all those around them are one of the root reasons our team has chosen to tackle HD. For instance, HD is adult-onset (30s to 50s) and many individuals go about their lives and form families without the knowledge of the storm looming on the horizon. At the time of their diagnosis, their children will be revealed to be at risk of inheriting the disease. HD robs a patient of their life, eventually leaving them physically, cognitively, and behaviorally inept to continue their daily tasks and responsibilities. Although HD is classified as a rare disorder, the tragic and frightful effects it has upon patients, carriers, and families call for a resolution to be developed in the near future.

Abstract

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain and currently has no cure, which is why we’re aiming to find one! HD, which is usually adult-onset, is particularly devastating because it includes symptoms such as amnesia, involuntary movements, and physical incoordination, giving a patient a lifespan of only ten years after onset. The primary cause of this disease is a trinucleotide repeat of CAG in the huntingtin gene, where a repeat of 40 or more can cause the manifestation of the disease. Our goal is to create a synthetic RNA strand displacement technology that consists of the corrected RNA strand and a “guide” strand. The guide strand will bond with endogenous, faulty messenger RNA and release the corrected RNA strand for proper protein synthesis of the huntingtin protein, while disposing of the repeating CAG sequence. Ultimately, once such technologies are developed to overcome endocytosis and blood brain barrier traversal, an injectable cure can be produced.

Sources

HD RESOLUTION

hdresolutionigem@gmail.com | Phone: (347) 709-6167

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 				<div class="content_wrap"><div class="content"><article class="itemscope post_item post_item_single post_featured_center post_format_standard post-721 page type-page status-publish hentry" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"><section class="post_content" itemprop="articleBody"><h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Our Motivation</strong></h2>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Huntington’s Disease is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, meaning that if one allele out of two carries the HTT mutation the HD gene will produce the faulty protein of Huntingtin. Therefore, the children of an individual suffering from HD will have a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene if not expressing it themselves. According to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America it is the “qui</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ntessential family disease” and the ability of this disease to wrea</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">k such devastating and overarching damage on an individual and all those around them is one of the root reasons our team has chosen to tackle HD. For instance, HD is adult-onset (30s to 50s) and many individuals go about their lives and form families without the knowledge of the storm looming on the horizon. At the time of their diagnosis their children are revealed to be at risk of inheriting the disease. HD robs a patient of their life, eventually leaving them physically, cognitively, and behaviorally inept to continue their daily tasks and responsibilities. Although HD is classified as a rare disorder, the tragic and frightful effects it has upon patients, carriers, and families calls for a resolution to be developed in the near future.</span></p>
+<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Huntington’s Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, meaning that if one allele out of two carries the HTT mutation the HD gene will produce the faulty protein of Huntingtin. Therefore, the children of an individual suffering from HD will have a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene if they do not express it themselves. According to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, the “qui</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ntessential family disease” and the ability of this disease to wrea</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">k such devastating and overarching damage on an individual and all those around them are one of the root reasons our team has chosen to tackle HD. For instance, HD is adult-onset (30s to 50s) and many individuals go about their lives and form families without the knowledge of the storm looming on the horizon. At the time of their diagnosis, their children will be revealed to be at risk of inheriting the disease. HD robs a patient of their life, eventually leaving them physically, cognitively, and behaviorally inept to continue their daily tasks and responsibilities. Although HD is classified as a rare disorder, the tragic and frightful effects it has upon patients, carriers, and families call for a resolution to be developed in the near future.</span></p>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
 <p><img style="width:50%;" data-attachment-id="1249" data-permalink="https://hdresolutionigem.com/what-is-hd/1a/" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?fit=620%2C412&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="620,412" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="1a" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?fit=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?fit=620%2C412&amp;ssl=1" class="wp-image-1249 size-full aligncenter" src="https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?resize=620%2C412&#038;ssl=1" alt="" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?w=620&amp;ssl=1 620w, https://i2.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1a.jpg?resize=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p>
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 <h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Abstract</strong></h2>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Huntington&#8217;s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain and currently has no cure, which is why we’re aiming to find one! HD, which is usually adult-onset, is particularly devastating because it includes symptoms such as amnesia, involuntary movements, and physical incoordination, usually giving a patient a lifespan of only ten years after onset. The primary cause of this disease is a trinucleotide repeat of CAG in the huntingtin gene, where a repeat of 40 or more can cause the manifestation of the disease. Our goal is to create a synthetic RNA strand displacement technology that consists of the corrected RNA strand and a “guide” strand. The guide strand will bond with endogenous, faulty messenger RNA and release the corrected RNA strand for proper protein synthesis of the huntingtin protein, while disposing of the repeating CAG sequence. Ultimately, once such technologies are developed to overcome endocytosis and blood brain barrier traversal, an injectable cure can be produced. </span></p>
+<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Huntington&#8217;s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain and currently has no cure, which is why we’re aiming to find one! HD, which is usually adult-onset, is particularly devastating because it includes symptoms such as amnesia, involuntary movements, and physical incoordination, giving a patient a lifespan of only ten years after onset. The primary cause of this disease is a trinucleotide repeat of CAG in the huntingtin gene, where a repeat of 40 or more can cause the manifestation of the disease. Our goal is to create a synthetic RNA strand displacement technology that consists of the corrected RNA strand and a “guide” strand. The guide strand will bond with endogenous, faulty messenger RNA and release the corrected RNA strand for proper protein synthesis of the huntingtin protein, while disposing of the repeating CAG sequence. Ultimately, once such technologies are developed to overcome endocytosis and blood brain barrier traversal, an injectable cure can be produced. </span></p>
 <h4></h4>
 <p><img style="width:50%;" data-attachment-id="1255" data-permalink="https://hdresolutionigem.com/the-problem/medically-accurate-illustration-of-the-brain/" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?fit=700%2C525&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="700,525" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;medically accurate illustration of the brain&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;medically accurate illustration of the brain&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="medically accurate illustration of the brain" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?fit=700%2C525&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-1255 size-full" src="https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?resize=700%2C525&#038;ssl=1" alt="" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?w=700&amp;ssl=1 700w, https://i1.wp.com/hdresolutionigem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/4a-1.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></p>