We develop (non-coding) RNA therapeutics for incurable diseases using genomics and bioinformatics.

PI: Rory Johnson

Our mission is to develop better therapies for common diseases through understanding the original molecule of Life: RNA.

We develop tools based on CRISPR-Cas genome-editing and bioinformatics to discover and drug disease-causing RNAs.

We focus on the important yet mysterious class of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs).

We are an interdisciplinary, international research group based at University College Dublin.

The GOLD Team on our last Lab Retreat (2023, Co. Kerry).

We study long noncoding RNAs (blue), which regulate healthy and diseased molecular networks.

UCD Artist-in-Residence Lorna Donlon created this beautiful artwork about our research.

The GOLD Team on our last Lab Retreat (2023, Co. Kerry).

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Pan-cancer discovery of driver mutations in long noncoding RNAs reveals widespread functional rewiring of RNA regulatory elements

NEW PREPRINT

June 2026

Sunandini Ramnarayanan · Roofiya Koya · Rory Johnson · et al.

We analyse 12,631 cancer genomes from the 100,000 Genomes Project to identify 121 lncRNAs under positive selection across 19 cancer types. Approximately two-thirds of tumours harbour at least one lncRNA driver mutation. Somatic mutations preferentially remodel RNA-binding protein interaction sites, liberating oncogenic lncRNAs including MALAT1, SNHG14 and NEAT1 — uncovering a new class of cancer drivers and targets for RNA-directed therapies.

Read the preprint