RiboMarker® Platform
We developed the RiboMarker platform to realize the potential of RNA fragmentomics. With RiboMarker, we’re discovering RNA biomarkers that have never been seen before and unlocking a new realm of next-generation analytes for a broad array of diagnostics applications.
RNA biomarkers are highly informative markers of disease, disease progression, and health in samples ranging from oncology, to infectious disease, and AgBio. These data-rich biomarkers can be used to determine not only whether a patient or agricultural sample has a disease, but also the state of the disease’s progression. For example, RNA biomarkers can show the dissemination of an infection from the primary site throughout the body, residual disease, or possibly even disease termination.
How RiboMarker Advances Diagnostics
Detecting RNA biomarkers that nobody has seen before.
Library Construction
Our novel method for preparing RNA sequencing libraries nearly eliminates incorporation bias in Next-Generation-Sequencing (NGS). This technology solves the problem of commonly used sequencing library preparations that lead to underdetection of RNA fragments, many miRNAs, and other small RNAs, some by as much as 10,000-fold.
Next-Generation Sequencing
By overcoming under-representation in library preparation, our platform can detect the >90% of cfRNA that current methods cannot see. Leveraging NGS, we can accurately quantify the RNA fragmentome to develop an understanding of their biology and potential as biomarkers for therapeutic targets.
AI Bioinformatics Models
Our approach can measure multiple biomarkers in a single experiment. Doing so required us to develop proprietary AI models that can analyze the wealth of RNA fragmentomics data and illuminate information like degradation, splicing, mutations in transcripts, and base modifications.
Accuracy through circularization
Our key breakthrough.
Most bias stems from sequence-dependent variability in the enzymatic ligation reactions that attach the two adapters to the 3’ and 5’ ends of RNA fragments during preparation of sequencing libraries. By using a novel single adapter and circularization, our RiboMarker platform greatly reduces library preparation bias.
Broad Diagnostic Applications
RiboMarker’s first RNA fragmentomics diagnostic is for the fungal disease known as Valley Fever (VF). VF is a debilitating disease most often found in the Western states such as Arizona and CA and in Mexico and South America. When VF disseminates throughout the body patients require lifelong antifungal treatments that are costly and not very effective. Our VF program allows better detection and analysis of dissemination and residual disease in these patients. VF and other “dimorphic” funguses diseases such as Histoplasmosis are dramatically increasing due to climate change.
Our scientists are committed to expanding the RiboMarker RNA fragmentomics platform to address any diagnostic application where the ability to accurately predict, identify, and track dissemination critically impacts patient outcomes or quality of life.
Oncology
A routine liquid biopsy can become immensely more insightful when the dynamic information in RNA fragments becomes visible. In oncology, RiboMarker’s biomarkers can help detect cancer earlier and demonstrate a dynamic picture of the patient’s therapeutic journey throughout their treatment.
Infectious Disease
In cases of infectious disease, our RiboMarker platform can better detect the presence of a disease and profile its dissemination along with the patient’s response to treatment. Detecting and analyzing new RNA biomarkers in the same common biofluid samples provides real-time reporting of biological states.
Agricultural Biotechnology
RiboMarker can detect highly informative gene expression biomarkers in a variety of plant and animal samples. Analyzing these biomarkers enables detailed profiling of soil microbiota, deeper understanding of how genetic variations influence phenotypes, and better selection of desirable traits.
Our Supporting Technologies
Targeted Approach
RealSeq®-T is a novel technology that allows the targeted, direct quantification of RNA fragments from biofluidic samples. Data from plasma samples show that employing a targeted sequencing approach eliminates the need to perform RNA extraction and is significantly more reproducible compared to non-targeted approaches that detect RNA fragments after standard RNA extraction.
Single Cell
RealSeq®-SC is an innovative and highly efficient technology that improves the detection accuracy of single-cell RNA sequencing and minimizes technical dropout rates. The technology expands single-cell transcriptomics to encompass all RNA fragments, is effective across multiple cell types, and provides an effective platform for single-cell biomarker and liquid biopsy applications.
Selected Suppression Probes - SSP
Highly-expressed RNA species reduce the read depth of less abundant species that researchers care more about. We have developed a targeted removal probe (Selective Suppression Probe- SSP™) approach to depleting over-abundant species from RNA samples, resulting in increased RNA fragment reads and greater sequencing depth of fragments.
