Genome complexity: we now can study RNA gymnastics (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, November 28, 2020, 14:47 (1245 days ago) @ David Turell

A new technique:

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6520/1054.3?utm_campaign=ec_sci_2020-11-25&a...

" Unlike DNA, RNA can fold into a staggering number of distinct structures that perform diverse functions. Some structures transfer genetic information, and others regulate their own activities and life spans to act as catalysts for crucial reactions inside the cell. Our ability to visualize or predict the RNA structures that a cell can make is limited, hindering exploitation for RNA therapeutics. Aw et al. improved on a technology that uses nanopore technology to sequence RNA by measuring the changing current as the RNA nucleotides are pulled through the nanopore. This “PORE-cupine” technology incorporates structural probing by chemical modification and machine learning to capture structural information on a genome scale. The technique can detect structural differences between closely related RNAs encoded by the same genes."

Nat. Biotechnol. 10.1038/s41587-020-0712-z (2020).

Comment: A genomic workhorse. What information/instructions controls the RNA is still unknown. Requires intense design.