Profs and Pints Richmond presents: “Hacks for Human Cells,” on genetics-based medicine and its future, with Angie Hilliker, an associate professor of biology at the University of Richmond whose lab research focuses on how gene function can be altered.

The promise of gene therapy has been on the horizon for 30 years, but so far it has only produced treatments for a handful of disorders. Much bigger strides have been made in the development of therapies using mRNA—messenger ribonucleic acid—which is copied from genes and serves as a recipe for the creation of proteins that enable cells to function. Along with being an essential part of the Covid-19 vaccine, altered mRNA holds the potential to yield vaccines for other diseases as well as treatments for cancer.

Gain an understanding of this exciting frontier in medical research with the help of Angie Hilliker, a molecular geneticist and cell biologist who extensively studies mRNA and two years ago received the University of Richmond’s Distinguished Educator Award.

In a talk tailored to make complicated material accessible, Dr. Hilliker will start by giving her audience a basic understanding of gene therapy and its limitations.

She’ll then give her audience a crash course on mRNA, discussing what it is, what our own mRNA does for us, and how an RNA-based vaccine works.

Although the COVID vaccines were hailed as the first “mRNA vaccines” on the market, their development piggybacked on years of scientific research on how to use mRNA to “hack” cells into making new proteins that benefit the body. You’ll learn how research from the last decade laid the groundwork for the development of a COVID vaccine within a year of the emergence of the virus. It’s the story of a partnership between pharmaceutical companies and publicly funded science that is spawning innovations that help us deal with global pandemics and other big problems.

Finally, Professor Hilliker will give a preview of new innovations to come, discussing medical interventions that are in development or already in clinical trials. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)