New Research Holds Potential For Production Of Purer And Cheaper DNA Molecule Drug Versions
A novel way to mass produce specific DNA molecules is believed to hold the key for many of the challenges that come with current production methods. This ultimately means that high quality DNA molecules can be manufactured in large quantities at a cost effective price.
A collaborative effort between researchers based at Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Harvard University has seen the development of an innovative technique to manufacture short, single-stranded DNA molecules, which are also known as oligonucleotides. These DNA molecules are an essential investigatory tool and are an important component in a wide range of pharmaceutical research projects.
Reported this week in the scientific publication Nature Methods, this new technique has the potential to be used for the development of drugs consisting of DNA fragments as well as in DNA nanotechnology.
Without the use of oligonucleotides, many of the recent progress made in genetic and molecular biological research and development would have been impossible, such as the ability to quickly scan an organism's genome.
Co-developer Björn Högberg, from the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center explains: "We've used enzymatic production methods to create a system that not only improves the quality of the manufactured oligonucleotides but that also makes it possible to scale up production using bacteria in order to produce large amounts of DNA copies cheaply”.
During bioproduction DNA sequences are copied using bacteria. From this processes manufacturers can then produce vast numbers of DNA copies at a low cost. However, current processes for synthesising oligonucleotides result in the number of errors increasing with the length of the sequence. In contrast, the developers report that this new technique works well for long oligonucleotides of several hundred nitrogenous bases.
The paper published outlines that because the DNA molecules are formed using long strands folded back on itself which have been cut up by enzymes, and then several different oligonucleotides can be produced at the same time in a balanced combination. This is important if the DNA molecules are to be crystallised or used therapeutically.
Analyses of the formation of a DNA crystal and folding of DNA nanostructures by the researchers enabled them to confirm the scalability, purity and stoichiometry of the produced oligonucleotides. As a result of this work the scientists have opened up the possibilities to reduce the costs of creating higher quality DNA molecule-based pharmaceuticals: "Oligonucleotide-based drugs are already available, and it's very possible that our method could be used to produce purer and cheaper versions of these drugs", points out Högberg.