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IMIB - INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR INFECTION BIOLOGY

Leopoldina working group met at the Würzburg Medical Campus

03/04/2026

In modern medicine, RNA-based therapies are considered promising approaches for preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases. The rapid development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, demonstrated the potential of these technologies.

Productive discussions about RNA-based therapies, from left to right: Sebastian Wetterich (Technical University of Dresden), Gunter Hartmann (University Hospital Bonn), Lorenz Meinel (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg), Anne Spang (University of Basel), Thomas Thum (Medical University of Hannover), Jörg Vogel (Helmholtz Institute Würzburg; Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg), Anke Sparmann (Helmholtz Institute Würzburg), Christian Fröschel (Helmholtz Institute Würzburg), Roland Lill (Philipps University Marburg), Selim Corbacioglu (Regensburg University Hospital), Isabelle Bekeredjian-Ding (Gießen and Marburg University Hospital). Photo: HIRI / Luisa Härtig

In modern medicine, RNA-based therapies are considered promising approaches for preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases. The rapid development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, demonstrated the potential of these technologies. To discuss the possibilities and limitations of these therapies as well as the latest developments in the field, a specialist working group of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina met in Würzburg on February 24 and 25.

The group comprises leading scientists in the field of RNA research. Over the past few months, the committee has held several meetings to draft a manuscript on the topic of “RNA-based therapies: approaches and potential in medicine.” The group has now met one last time in Würzburg to finalize the text and prepare it for external review. Once the evaluation process has been completed, the statement is scheduled to be published in mid-2026 and will provide policymakers and society with evidence-based information on the opportunities and challenges of RNA-based medicine.

Source: Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI)

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