Conference Report: Sarah Goes Oligotherapeutics

“From October 22 to 25, I had the opportunity to attend the Meeting of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (OTS) in Barcelona, Spain.

I was fascinated by the wide range of therapeutics discussed at the conference. These included, for example, microRNAs, CRISPR, RNAi, and antisense technologies. It was very exciting to hear presentations from some of the leading experts in this field. I was particularly impressed by David Liu, who presented his groundbreaking work on base and prime editing, and Sudhir Agrawal, who has done pioneering work in the chemistry of antisense oligonucleotides with the goal of giving them drug-like properties.

Not only the academic world but also the pharmaceutical industry was well represented. This gave me insight into some of the latest clinical research. For example, a biotech company presented data on its antisense technology for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disorder that leads to muscle wasting and early death.

All in all, highly interesting talks, amazing people, and a beautiful venue—I am already looking forward to the next OTS meeting!” 

– Sarah Nentwich, RNAmed PhD student in the Vogel lab (Würzburg)