Genome complexity: how genes are read and produce (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, February 21, 2022, 15:41 (796 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by David Turell, Monday, February 21, 2022, 15:46

The making of mRNA is studied:

https://phys.org/news/2022-02-blueprint-proteins-mrna.html

"Proteins need to interact in a complex manner for a so-called "messenger RNA" (mRNA) to be created in human cells from a precursor molecule. mRNA provides a blueprint for proteins; the first vaccines against the coronavirus are also based on mRNAs. A team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry in Martinsried has discovered how an essential final step in the production of mRNA precisely works.

"Proteins are responsible for all of the body's essential processes. In a sense, the genes in the human genome act as building instructions for them. However, an intermediate step is necessary before new proteins can be created: "First the DNA must be transcribed: A chain-like precursor RNA is produced which is an exact copy of the DNA. From this, several steps are required to create the mature mRNA.

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"There is no room for error in this complicated process—even the smallest changes in the structure of a protein can impair its function and lead to the development of diseases. "The mRNA not only determines the structure of a protein, but also how much of it is produced. Therefore, it is important that its structure is also precisely controlled," Wahle adds. The proteins involved in reading out and transcribing DNA into precursor RNA are already known to scientists. However, an important sub-step in the process of creating mature mRNA has only been vaguely understood until now. First, the chains of the mRNA precursors are cleaved at a specific point to create uniform products. Then, a long molecular chain, the so-called poly(A) tail, is attached to one end of the strand. This ensures that the mRNA is not directly degraded again in the cells, and it is also important for protein synthesis.

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"'We basically reproduced the conditions in a normal cell, although the natural process is probably even more complex," explains Wahle. Sixteen proteins are involved in creating the final molecules. "The process is universal, affecting every cell and every mRNA molecule in the body," says Felix Sandmeir from the MPI of Biochemistry." (my bold)

Comment: totally automatic and precisely controlled. Irreducibly complex, which means designed. This process is in every cell in our bodies, acting at necessarily high speed.