It's the Circle of Life

Could circular RNA be the Next Big Thing for RNA therapeutics? The molecules are much more persistent than linear RNA (such as the mRNA used in current COVID-19 vaccines), and so may be able to produce proteins over a sustained period. This lends itself not only to vaccine development, but also to production of therapeutic proteins, such as those needed for enzyme replacement therapy; there are many potential use cases for circular RNA. And it's not just proteins - circRNAs can act as aptamers, or antisense silencing agents. Is there anything they can't do?

There are also some neat techniques for producing the circles, described in this article, as well as inventive company names ("Orbital Therapeutics", "Oroboros Bio" [now "Orna Therapeutics"], "Chimerna Therapeutics", "Aloop Therapeutics", etc etc).