Globally renowned RNA biologist will share groundbreaking research on Aug. 31

The human body is a complex, intricate system that relies on innumerable signals and processes to run smoothly. When something goes wrong, cells can become mutated, and diseases can occur. And while the body has a separate system to deal with problems like these, things can go awry, turning the body into a self-destructive system.

Lynne E. Maquat, PhD, the 2026 winner of the Steven C. Beering Award for the Advancement of Biomedical Research, presented by IU School of Medicine, has figured out a way to stop that self-destructive behavior at the cellular level.

Your cells as smartphones

Imagine that each cell in your body is a smartphone that runs a massive, vital application. Those innumerable signals and processes mentioned earlier must all be set up perfectly for the “phone” to work correctly. The master software code (or “operating system”) for that cell (“phone”) is your DNA.

Now think of your smartphone trying to run a specific feature, like opening your camera app. To do so, as you click on the app icon, it runs a temporary instructional script for that feature. If the script runs smoothly, your phone opens the app without trouble. If there is an error, the app will crash or fail to open altogether.

The same is true in your body. While DNA is the full script that controls your cells, each cell (or "app") generates a smaller genetic component (called messenger RNA, or mRNA) that acts as the blueprint or script used to build a specific protein (“take the photo”) that keeps your body healthy. But if there is an error in the script, the cell will crash. 

Under normal conditions, an “auto-correct” or “crash-protection” system (called nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, or NMD) built into each cell is supposed to protect your body from tiny errors in your genetic code. It repairs the error and allows the cell to do its job.

However, in many genetic diseases, a tiny, distinct typo slips into the script. When this happens, the aggressive auto-correct system, NMD, panics. Instead of just fixing the typo, it completely shreds the temporary mRNA script. Because the script is destroyed, the cell can’t build the protein feature it needs, causing the entire cellular application to shut down and crash.

In other words, your smartphone app’s script has become corrupt with an error, causing the auto-correct to delete it entirely. The app can’t open, and the therefore can’t do the work you need it to do.

Enter Lynne Maquat, PhD

For decades, no one understood why these cellular-level “apps” were crashing, let alone how to fix them.

Then, in 1981, Lynne Maquat, PhD, now the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair at the University of Rochester Medical Center, discovered that auto-correct system, NMD. More important, she figured out how to tweak its intensity dial.

Maquat’s groundbreaking work has shown scientists how to stop the app (the cell’s process of building a necessary protein) from crashing, bypass the typo and let the cell function normally. It’s a discovery that has transformed basic laboratory science into revolutionary, life-saving medicine.

The Maquat Rule leads to more precise medical care at the bedside

A vital piece of Maquat’s legacy is a concept known as The Maquat Rule. Using the same metaphor of the smartphone with scripts and auto-correct, The Maquat Rule allows doctors to look at exactly where a typo occurs in a line of code, then predict whether the cellular auto-correct will completely destroy the typo-laden script or let it slide. It’s a predictive boundary that allows clinicians to figure out right away whether a patient will face a mild or severe form of a disease, allowing for faster, hyper-targeted and more precise medical care.

She’s sharing her recent breakthrough with IU

Recently, Maquat’s team discovered that this auto-correct system is significantly more aggressive than necessary in patients with an incurable neurodevelopmental disorder called fragile X syndrome, the most common single-gene cause of intellectual disability and autism. 

Her lab realized that a certain type of existing, FDA-approved cancer medication might be able to dial down this overactive system, potentially repurposing an available drug to treat a completely different condition.

Maquat will be sharing more about this discovery and its potential impact on patients during her Beering Award lecture at IU on Aug. 31. The lecture, titled “Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) in human health and disease: Reframing the role of FMRP in fragile X syndrome,” will take place at noon at Walther Hall on the IU Indianapolis campus. It will be followed by a reception, where attendees are invited to talk with Maquat personally about her work.

Physician? Scientist? Her work will interest you

The Beering Award honors international trailblazers whose research influences patient care — and with eight past winners having gone on to win the Nobel Prize, it represents the pinnacle of biomedical science.

Maquat’s work is remarkable because she has mapped out the exact biochemical “auto-correct” marks that cells add to scripts to check for errors. She discovered the step-by-step molecular choreography that tells a cell whether to keep a piece of code or destroy it. She essentially wrote the manual on how our cellular software functions when cells become mutated.

Thanks to her mapping out the system, treating physicians can now target the root cause of devastating genetic diseases, instead of just managing a patient’s symptoms. By understanding how the auto-correct mechanism works, scientists are developing new drugs that encourage the body to overlook certain typos. The research has provided immediate clinical hope for patients fighting everything from cystic fibrosis to aggressive cancers. 

Why you should be in the room Aug. 31

The Beering Award lecture is a unique opportunity to hear from a true legend of modern biology. 

• If you are a clinician, you will have a chance to get a front-row preview of the future of precision medicine. You will see firsthand how tinkering with RNA biology can impact how you treat patients and manage diseases at the bedside.
• If you are a basic scientist, you will have a chance to watch a pioneer explain her work unraveling one of the most fundamental quality-control pathways in all of biology. Her insights into how cells operate can spark new ideas, new experimental models and breakthrough concepts for your own lab.
• If you are a learner, this lecture will be a demonstration of how a curious question asked in a laboratory decades ago can evolve into a medical treatment that saves lives today. It’ll be source of inspiration as you embark on your own future career.

Register to attend Maquat’s Aug. 31 lecture for a front-row seat to the science behind the future of medicine.