CSHL researchers pinpoint structure-building role for 2 non-coding RNAs
Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - 18:35
in Biology & Nature
Most of the DNA in the nucleus of each of our cells is converted into RNA, but only a small fraction of these RNA molecules serve as coding templates for the synthesis of proteins. Of the remaining RNAs, known as "non-coding" RNAs (ncRNA), the functions of a scant few are known: they inhibit the activity of genes or modify them by altering the way in which DNA is packaged within cells. What the rest of them do within cells is largely a mystery.