Meet the Editor: Alain Laederach

RNA Biology: Alain Laederach

Previously an Associate Editor of RNA Biology, Alain Laederach commenced his new role as Editor-In-Chief on 1st April 2022.

Alain is a Professor at the University of North Carolina, Department of Biology. The Laederach Lab is interested in better understanding the relationship between RNA structure and folding dynamics. Alain and his team develop novel computational approaches to analyze and interpret chemical mapping data. Most recently, they have begun investigating the relationship between disease-associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) occurring in Human UTRs and their effect on RNA structure.

RNA Biology  is an open access international peer-reviewed  journal  for RNA research including structural biology, genome, transcription, and splicing research.

RNA has played a central role in all cellular processes since the beginning of life: decoding the genome, regulating gene expression,  structural biology,  mediating molecular interactions, and catalyzing chemical reactions.  

This leading journal in the field provides a platform for presenting and discussing all cutting-edge RNA research.

What are your plans for the journal this year?

This year we plan on publishing some exciting RNA science, as well as several special issues including one on RNA therapeutics.

You were previously an Associate Editor for RNA biology. What are you most looking forward to now that you have taken over as Editor In Chief?

I am really looking forward to working with all the other great associate editors and the editorial board and peer reviewers. Most importantly, I look forward to reading all the submissions to our journal and learning about all the exciting new research being done in my field!

Which topics are you most interested to cover in the journal?

RNA biology publishes a broad range of RNA related research, you can read about it here: https://bit.ly/3u5zmeg. That being said, RNA therapeutics is certainly and exciting field, and I also think now RNA vaccines and RNA viruses are really interesting.

Tell us more about your research background and specific area of expertise?

My training is in RNA bioinformatics and structure, although now my lab also does some pretty serious experiments, especially using next generation sequencing. Broadly we focus on RNA in disease, in particular how SNPs affect RNA structure and function.

What are some of the most interesting papers that have recently been published in RNA Biology?

I am in this case specifically focusing on methods and techniques, but we also publish a lot of very interesting basic mechanistic details!

What are the current challenges facing the research community in the field?

I think the potential biomedical impact of RNA is enormous, and we are seeing how RNA therapeutics have very real world applications. I think one of the biggest challenges in the field is figuring out how to apply all these new RNA tools we have in highly impactful ways.

What would your advice be to early career researchers?

I think it is important to get that first paper out there. I often see early career researchers immediately trying to get into a very high impact journal. But in fact in this day and age it just as important to publish high quality science regularly. Here at RNA biology we would be delighted to publish your very first paper as an independent faculty member!

What are the benefits of being an open access journal for authors and for the research community?

I think the main one is ease of access for everyone, no paywalls, anyone can download your full article anywhere in the world. It is the future of publishing in my opinion.

Why is RNA research so important?

You can always go ahead and submit your paper at our I think these past two years are a real world example! But at a more basic level, RNA is both a messenger of genetic information and a regulator of expression. It is at the centre of the central dogma!