Over the course of a half-century career in science, Brenda Bass helped unlock some of the deepest mysteries of ribonucleic acid, or RNA. RNA had primarily been defined as a carrier of instructions for DNA to synthesize proteins in all living cells. But her pioneering research at the University of Utah transformed our understanding of RNA, uncovering new roles as an active, powerful player in biology.

Now the distinguished professor of biochemistry has been named the 2026 recipient of the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence, the University of Utah’s highest faculty honor.

“Dr. Bass has had an enormous positive impact at the U and across the entire field of RNA biochemistry throughout her distinguished career. Her long history of research excellence and exemplary service and mentorship has already been recognized by a series of prestigious awards and honors,” said Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah. “It’s only fitting that the Rosenblatt Prize now go to a scientist who has transformed our understanding of the relationship between RNA biochemistry and human disease, and has also consistently excelled in training and service, both here and at the national level.”

The Rosenblatt Prize is presented annually to a faculty member who transcends ordinary teaching, research and administrative contributions. A group of distinguished faculty members on the Rosenblatt Prize Committee recommends esteemed colleagues for consideration and the university’s president makes the final selection.

About Brenda Bass

Brenda Bass didn’t just make important discoveries. Her research fundamentally changed how scientists understand RNA, revealing roles as a dynamic molecule that can edit genetic information, regulate genes and shape immune responses, according to Wesley Sundquist, himself the 2017 Rosenblatt recipient.

“It is safe to say that the ‘RNA World’ would be very different without Brenda’s research,” wrote Sundquist, a distinguished professor of biochemistry, in a letter of nomination.

One of her most important insights was that RNA editing mostly occurs not in protein-coding regions, as scientists once thought, but in noncoding regions of RNA. This work proved crucial for understanding how cells avoid triggering harmful immune responses against their own RNA, linking these discoveries directly to autoimmune disease and human health, according to Sundquist.

A graduate of Colorado College, Bass completed her doctorate at the University of Colorado in 1985 under the renowned biochemist Thomas Cech, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discoveries that Bass had worked on. This pioneering research provided some of the earliest evidence of RNA’s enzymatic activity.

She joined the U in 1989 as an assistant professor of biochemistry and rose to the level of distinguished professor by 2007.  She has held the U’s Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair since 2019, as well as the H.A. and Edna Benning Endowed Chair since 2009.

A string of accolades has followed Bass throughout her career, including selection to the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts & Sciences and most recently the RNA Society’s lifetime achievement award in February.

In addition to her scientific discoveries, Bass has been recognized as an inspiring figure at all levels, for her deep thought and analytical rigor, her outstanding mentorship, national leadership in her field and her generous service to the U community.

Bass has been an effective and generous mentor to the many scientists she trained, many of whom went on to successful careers, according to former student Niladri Sinha, who noted her “remarkable ability to communicate complex concepts with clarity and precision,” in his letter of support.

“Brenda’s trailblazing career has been bookmarked with scientific successes and exceptional professional service and will have a profound and lasting impact on RNA biology,” wrote Sinha, now an assistant professor in the U’s Department of Biochemistry. “Even more remarkable is her continued dedication to improving and advocating for her long list of trainees.”

Bass is also known for a keen interdisciplinary eye toward solving scientific puzzles, which led to forays into diverse methods, such as the use of nematodes, fruit flies and X-ray crystallography, to test her hypotheses about the enzyme known as ADAR.

“It is very rare to find a scientist who can bring to bear diverse tools and disciplines on significant biological problems,” Cech wrote his letter of support. “Brenda Bass is the rare individual who asks a question and only then chooses the most powerful approach, be it RNA-protein biochemistry, mass spectrometry, chemistry, or worm genetics.”

This experimental approach helped Bass’s lab, which included Sinha at the time, to unravel the RNA system involving Dicer, an enzyme essential for RNA interference—a process cells use to control gene activity. These findings explained how Dicer recognizes and processes different RNA molecules and how various RNA pathways interact inside the cell, providing key insights into how the immune system takes out viruses without harming its own cells.

Picture a tiny cellular machine that chops the viruses’ genetic material into bits. The Bass lab’s research showed how the machine detects the intruders and processes them for destruction to protect cells and prevent the spread of infection.

“Fighting viruses is essential for survival,” Bass said. “It is fascinating to see how biology has evolved to solve this problem.”

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• Rebecca Walsh 801-550-4930 Rebecca.walsh@utah.edu