Program Snapshot

RNA is a molecule that plays a crucial role in how our cells work and how our bodies function. It’s also becoming a novel tool for diagnosing and treating diseases. But despite its importance, we still don’t fully understand RNA, including how its various structural forms and modifications impact our health. The NIH Common Fund’s RNomics Program aims to build the tools and technologies needed to study the entire set of RNA molecules in the human body, or the “RNome.” This most notably includes the RNA that codes for proteins, called coding RNA, but also other non-coding forms of RNA that play critical functions within the cell.

A 2024 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report declared that “RNA science stands at a critical crossroads,” emphasizing the urgent need for technological advancement. RNA can be modified in more than 170 different ways, and we don’t currently have the right tools to study these alterations in detail. These modifications affect RNA stability, structure, location in the body, and function, and many are the consequence of environmental exposures. Current tools cannot adequately sequence full-length RNA and detect these modifications, limiting our ability to decode the full scope of RNA biology. There is a pressing need for a new generation of technologies to sequence full-length RNAs in a way that also identifies RNA modifications with precision.

The goal of the RNomics Program is to build a powerful toolkit that will make it possible for scientists to study RNA in detail. This includes developing cutting-edge technologies to read the full-length sequence of coding and non-coding RNA molecules, and to detect RNA modifications. These tools will help researchers understand how different forms of RNA affect RNA’s function within the body and their subsequent impact on human health. 

Research Initiatives

The RNomics Program will support four initiatives:

• RNomics Technology Enhancement Centers (RTECs): RTECs will further develop existing technologies with demonstrated feasibility. These centers will strengthen experimental and computational tools for measuring, mapping, and testing RNA in cells and tissues, with the goal of delivering measurable improvements and supporting broad community use. 
• Transformative Technologies for Experimental and Computational RNome Characterization and Functional Analysis: These phased projects will focus on early-stage, high-risk ideas not yet demonstrated at scale or in biologically relevant systems. Projects are expected to develop new experimental and computational RNA technologies that address major limitations of current methods. 
• RNomics Molecular Standards: This opportunity will support development, testing, refinement, and distribution of RNA molecular reference standards for use across the RNomics program and the broader research community. These standards will support benchmarking, reproducibility, and comparison of RNA technologies across laboratories and platforms.
• RNomics Outreach and Coordination (ROC) Center: The ROC Center will serve as the consortium's hub for data management, coordination, and community engagement. It will develop a central RNomics data portal, support the development and use of data standards, coordinate technology validation and benchmarking, lead consortium-wide data analysis, and support outreach, training, and sharing of RNomics resources.
   

Through these initiatives, the program aims to provide a comprehensive platform of technologies and data infrastructure for complete, direct RNA sequencing from any sample. These advances will set the stage to understand the role of RNA and its modifications in human health and disease. They will also enhance our ability to understand the influence of environmental exposures on human health. By improving how we study RNA, the RNomics Program could help unlock new discoveries in human biology and open the door to better, more personalized therapies and advance precision medicine.

The RNomics Program funding opportunities are expected to be announced in late fall 2026. The forecast notices are now available on Grants.gov. These forecasts are intended to help the research community prepare for future funding opportunities and begin planning potential applications. Sign up for the RNomics listserv for future announcements.