Abscription is a rapid and robust molecular detection process developed by Ribomed. Abscription is an isothermal reaction that is resistant to blood, saliva and most environmental substances that inhibit current detection tests based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Abscription can be used for detection of DNA, RNA, protein, protein modifications or CpG methylation on a single device with a common set of reagents. Abscription allows detection of multiple targets in a single sample and offers the flexibility to use different types of detection instrumentation to obtain test results. Products under development include those that will be affordable for basic research labs, as well as those that can be formatted for high throughput screening by pharmaceutical companies.

Epigenetics, currently the main focus of Ribomed, includes changes in gene expression that are stable during cell division but do not involve changes in the DNA sequence. DNA contains regions called genes which encode messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that serve as templates for the synthesis of proteins. Cancer and other diseases arise when there are genetic changes in genes, such as mutations or deletions or when changes occur to alter the level of the mRNA or protein produced from a gene without altering its sequence of bases. These latter types of changes are epigenetic changes. Although cancer was once believed to be caused exclusively by genetic changes, particularly DNA mutations, recent work now suggests that most cancers are actually caused by epigenetic changes.

Epigenetic changes include:

• Changes in the level of gene expression and mRNA production by the addition or removal of methyl groups to Cytosine© in genes and regulatory DNA regions called CpG islands.
• Changes in protein production from mRNA by interaction with interfering Micro-RNA (mi-RNA).
• Modifications to the histone proteins that compact the DNA into chromosomes.