Award-winning novel methods in RNA research
Patrick Bohn received RNA Society Eclipse Award for Innovation in High Throughput Biology
The RNA Society has honored Patrick Bohn with the Eclipse Award for Innovation in High Throughput Biology in recognition of his research contributions to the field. The award acknowledges his development of new methodological approaches in RNA research, carried out during his doctoral studies in Redmond Smyth’s laboratory at the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg (HIRI). The prize is endowed with 500 US dollars and also includes travel and registration expenses for the RNA Society's annual meeting, as well as other benefits.
Patrick Bohn’s research centers on developing innovative methods to analyze RNA within cells. One of these technologies enables precise measurement of the structure of long RNA molecules while distinguishing closely related sequences, so-called isoforms. Using this approach, the research team demonstrated how the HI virus, which causes the immune deficiency disease AIDS, distinguishes full-length genomic molecules from shorter ones—a mechanism that will potentially offer new avenues for antiviral therapeutic strategies. In the future, he wants to further improve the method to identify sites of protein binding to RNA.
He also developed a method for direct RNA sequencing that enables simultaneous processing of multiple samples, reducing the cost of this technology by approximately tenfold. This type of sequencing makes it possible to detect RNA modifications and better understand their role in RNA function.
Ultimately, the goal is to integrate these two technologies and enable RNA structure analysis through direct RNA sequencing.
The Award
Established in 2021, the RNA Society’s Eclipse Award is sponsored by Eclipse BioInnovations Inc. All doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers who are members of the RNA Society are eligible to participate. Each year, two researchers—one in an early and one in an advanced career phase—are recognized for their innovative scientific contributions. Alongside Patrick Bohn, Luca Ducoli was honored this year as the postdoctoral recipient of the Eclipse Award for Innovation in High Throughput Biology.
