D3363: Bioinformatics paradigm for in silico analysis of sequence specificity of novel sprayable dsRNA biopesticides

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

EG

Eric Gordon

GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Co-Author(s)

ED

Emma De Neef

Bioinformatics Scientist
GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
VV

Valeria Velasquez Zapata

Bioinformatics Scientist
GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Kenneth Narva (he/him/his)

Head of Insecticides, Research Fellow
GreenLight Biosciences
Durham, North Carolina
LM

Laurent Mezin

Director of NA Regulatory Affairs
GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
UD

Upendra Devisetty

Head of Data Science
GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Krishna Sridharan, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Senior Director of Data Sciences & Data Management
GreenLight Biosciences
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

RNA interference, or RNAi, is a powerful genetic tool that uses dsRNA to cause negative regulation of complementary gene targets. Recently, RNAi using dsRNA sequences designed to target lethal genes in certain agricultural pests has been successfully used for their control. Because these biopesticides uniquely contain a nucleotide sequence, a bioinformatic analysis is required as one component of the regulatory assessment of safety to demonstrate adequate sequence specificity. Despite the biological barriers that exist to dsRNA uptake in vertebrates, theoretical off-target genes present in the human transcriptome and other organisms are of interest to regulators. Here, we present a unified bioinformatics pipeline for full characterization of the specificity of any sequence in comparison to humans and other non-target organisms. A scoring approach, based on previously established information in the literature of human siRNA binding specificity, was developed and applied to the active ingredient of Calantha, a dsRNA sequence called Ledprona. This analysis represents this first framework for a regulatory bioinformatics analysis of sprayable dsRNA control agents.