Rochester, N.Y. (WROC) — After receiving a number of prestigious awards including one this past fall, UR Medicine's Dr. Lynne Maquat is not slowing down. Her discovery of and subsequent work on what's called nonsense mediated mRNA decay -- the process that helps to make sure the body uses genetic code as it should -- could cure a number of terrible diseases. She sat down with me Adam Chodak her lab to talk about her journey. Adam Chodak: I mean, the excitement part I want to touch on, because I have to think when you are on a road that you know, has never been ventured down before, there's a lot of responsibility there. At the same time at this adventure spirit must come out. Lynne Maquat: Yes. Well I do have to say that my primary motivator has always been fear. And I would say that that was in the forefront. But I loved what we were doing, and I loved working with the post-docs in the graduate students and the technicians in my lab. We were a team. And so that was the excitement, but it was clear that what we were doing, because it was relevant to human diseases, was important. And in studying human diseases, you also have to understand what happens normally. And we learned a lot about how cells normally function when they metabolize RNA, that was new. AC: After reading about the research that you've done with others, but that you've helped to champion, I walked away with the impression that however long it takes this type of research could help millions of people in the future. Is would that be an accurate? LM: Yes. Yes. and I think we've learned so much about what RNA normally does and what goes wrong in disease. The idea of personalized medicine is key now, and we're developing the tools that we're going to need. Hopefully there will be earlier and earlier diagnosis of genetic disorders and treatments, cures, cures. Wouldn't that be great? AC: So obviously when you do this type of research, you have various companies that are gonna be very interested in using and exploiting the research. How does that affect us in the Rochester area? LM: Many of us are funded by companies because they have capacities in ways that we don't and vice versa. And we're very excited about being named a New York State Center of Excellence in RNA Research and Technology together with the RNA Institute in Albany. And this provides us with a pot of money to do a number of things. AC: Obviously you're a woman in science, which is much more common now than it was, than when you started. Do you take pride in that? Is that something that you've thought about before? LM: You may think you want something to happen in your life, but if it doesn't, it actually may be better. You have to point yourself in the right direction, a direction that's constructive. But it's good for young people to realize that there are bumps in the road that one has to persist through. I think it's very important for young people to hear that.