RNA is key to the dark matter of the genome - scientists are sequencing it to illuminate human health and disease

Although there are striking differences between the cells that make up your eyes, kidneys, brain and toes, the DNA blueprint ...

Versatile enzyme that quickly, accurately synthesizes RNA can also perform reverse transcription

From vaccines and diagnostics to emerging gene-based therapies, RNA molecules are now central to modern medicine. But as ...
Labroots

A Vital Role for RNA in DNA Repair is Revealed

RNA is one of the bodies most vital molecules, and it comes in a few forms. For example, messenger RNA fills an essential role in gene expression by copying the sequences of active genes, which are ...
Chemistry World

How RNA reveals clues to life’s origins on Earth

The discovery of catalytic RNA transformed our understanding of life's beginnings. Clare Sansom explores how the RNA world ...
Technology Networks

Cells Use mRNA Fragments To Activate Backup Genes

Researchers uncovered how cells coordinate genetic compensation when faulty mRNA is degraded. Small RNA fragments act as sequence “addresses” that recruit ILF3 to activate related backup genes.
ZME Science

The “Quite Tiny” RNA Molecule That Could Answer the Question of the Origin of Life

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge have discovered a ribozyme that is shockingly small, yet ...

Tiny, 45 base long RNA can make copies of itself

These random molecules were fed a collection of three-base-long RNAs, each linked to a chemical tag. The idea was that if a molecule is capable of ligating one of these short RNA fragments to itself, ...