Thoroughbred groups have high hopes for mRNA study into catastrophic injuries

From Horsetalk.co.nz

Two thoroughbred groups in the US are helping fund a study that is seeking to identify horses at risk for catastrophic injury through the use of Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression analysis of blood samples.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) are jointly funding a $US25,000 grant directed to the study by Drs Allen Page, Emma Adam and David Horohov of the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center.

Messenger RNA is a single-stranded RNA molecule that is generated from DNA through the process of transcription. This mRNA carries the genetic information specifying a particular amino acid sequence, which can then be used to create a protein through the process of translation.