Genome complexity: small RNA silences genes (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 14:04 (3318 days ago) @ David Turell

"Marc Bühler and his team at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) have elucidated the mechanism underlying small RNA-mediated gene silencing, thus solving a mystery which has been puzzling the research community for over a decade. Their findings, published today in Nature, have great potential for applications in various fields." - Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-03-genes-permanently-silenced-small-rnas.html#jCp-"As the scientists report in Nature today, a group of proteins known as the Paf1 complex (Paf1C) - itself part of the RNA polymerase complex - prevents small RNA molecules from silencing sections of the genome. When Paf1C was mutated in yeast, RNA fragments could be used to shut down targeted genome regions. This effect is robust and long-lasting. Bühler says: "In our experiments, we showed that gene silencing is also maintained in the next generation, even when the original RNA molecule is no longer present. So what we've discovered is a wholly epigenetic mechanism: we can alter gene expression across generations - and thus influence cell development - without directly changing the DNA sequence.'"