Small molecule may help pinpoint some cancers

In recent years, scientists have begun to catalog an astonishing array of small, distinct genetic elements that seem to play an important role in how genes function.
Known as microRNAs for their Lilliputian dimensions - just 22 nucleotides long - they have generated much excitement among scientists, as they seem to be ubiquitous in nature, working in both plant and animal cells.
According to University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School Professor James Dahlberg, within only the past five years or so have scientists begun to understand the ways that microRNAs mediate gene expression, taking part in the complicated genetic interplay that governs many life processes.