Junk DNA: goodbye!: lncRNA functions in cells (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, December 16, 2016, 14:44 (2685 days ago) @ David Turell

Long non-coding RNA's are yielding their functions to new studies:

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/47786/title/Nearly-500-New-lncRNA...

"Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) comprise a mysterious class of molecules that are more than 200 nucleotides in length, but do not code for any proteins. Now, in a December 15 study published in Science, researchers identify 499 new lncRNAs and have made strides toward understanding the functions of these molecules. Unlike most coding genes, which tend to be essential across diverse cell lines, nearly 90 percent of the lncRNAs genes identified appear to affect robust cell growth in just one of the six cell lines tested, the team reported.

“'Long noncoding RNAs are a pretty mysterious set of transcripts that are abundantly present in most cells,” said coauthor Daniel Lim, a neuroscientist and clinician at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “What wasn’t known is how many there are, and which are important for basic biological functions. Our surprising finding is that . . . most lncRNAs function in only one cell type. This exquisite specificity in RNA function is a result that I do not think I would have believed, had we not done a study on this scale.”

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"The most surprising finding, the authors wrote, was that the vast majority of lncRNA genes appear to modify cell growth in only one cell type. “Unlike protein-coding genes, which are often essential in many different types of cells, the lncRNAs that were essential in one cell rarely played an important role in the other cell types,” Weissman said. “That suggests lncRNAs play a role in giving each cell its own identity.”

"Rinn praised the findings. “This heroic effort is the first genome-wide screen for lncRNA biology across specific cell types,” he said. “From this study we can now conclude that a majority of lncRNAs are important to cell viability, as had been suspected. But now the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.”

"He cautioned, however, that it is still unclear how the 499 lncRNA loci identified might affect cell growth. “This study took great care to control for numerous shortcomings of genome-wide screens,” Rinn said. “However, this study can’t rule out if it is the act of transcription of these lncRNAs that is important or the final RNA product acting as a functional molecule.'”

Comment: More 'junk' DNA bites the dust. Most of DNA seems to have functional purposes contrary to Darwinist theories about it.