1.9—RIFT Assay: Measuring RNA Transcription and Kinetics in Real-Time

The Real-time In-vitro Fluorescence Transcription (RIFT) assay is a breakthrough platform that enables high-throughput, real-time measurement of RNA polymerase II activity across hundreds of human promoters. This powerful tool enables the dynamic profiling of gene regulation, providing unprecedented insight into how drugs, mutations, or environmental factors influence transcription. RIFT has broad commercial potential in drug discovery, functional genomics, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. With its scalability, speed, and precision, RIFT stands to accelerate both basic research and therapeutic development. This assay would most likely be sold as a kit for research use, or it could be licensed to companies that provide RNA research tools like Thermo Fisher.

Inventor: Dylan Taatjes (CU Boulder Biochemistry)

Potential Applications: Health and Wellness, Biotech, Diagnostics, Genomics, Research and Exploration