Targeting the Dark Matter of the Genome to Treat Diseases

About 98 percent of the the human genome consists of non-protein coding regions known as the “dark genome.” Once derided as “junk DNA,” these regions are increasingly understood to play a critical role in the regulation of the genome and offer a novel means of targeting diseases. Haya Therapeutics is exploring long non-coding RNAs as potential therapies to treat a range of diseases. We spoke to Samir Ounzain, co-founder and CEO of Haya, about the dark genome, the potential to use lncRNAs to treat diseases, and its recently announced collaboration with Eli Lily to use Haya’s platform technology to discover therapies for obesity and related metabolic conditions