Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 26 October 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5543, pp. 797 - 799
DOI: 10.1126/science.1066315
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY:
Glimpses of a Tiny RNA World

Gary Ruvkun

Naturally tiny regulatory RNAs of about 22 nucleotides were first identified from Caenorhabditis elegans genetics. Artificially induced RNAs of this size are also an intermediate in RNA interference, and both such RNAs use a common biochemical processing pathway. Now three groups have shown that there is an entire world of tiny RNAs that had almost escaped detection until now. These tiny RNAs are likely to regulate the translation of other mRNAs during development and, like the intermediates in RNAi, may be subject to amplification and systemic spread.

The author is in the Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

Read the Full Text

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)