RNA
hideRibonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate. RNA is very similar to DNA, but differs in a few important structural details: in the cell, RNA is usually single-stranded, while DNA is usually double-stranded; RNA nucleotides contain ribose while DNA contains deoxyribose (a type of ribose that lacks one oxygen atom); and RNA has the base uracil rather than thymine that is present in DNA.
RNA is transcribed from DNA by enzymes called RNA polymerases and is generally further processed by other enzymes. RNA is central to the synthesis of proteins. Here, a type of RNA called messenger RNA carries information from DNA to structures called ribosomes. These ribosomes are made from proteins and ribosomal RNAs, which come together to form a molecular machine that can read messenger RNAs and translate the information they carry into proteins. There are many RNAs with other roles – in particular regulating which genes are expressed, but also as the genomes of most viruses.
For more information about RNA, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with rna
Two-In-One Punch Knocks Out Drug Resistant Cancer Cells
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 04, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Cancer cells, like bacteria, can develop resistance to drug therapy, leading to relapse of disease. One approach showing promise in overcoming multidrug resistance in tumors is to combine two different anticancer ...
Researchers discover RNA repair system in bacteria
Oct 12, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
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In new papers appearing this month in Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Illinois biochemistry professor Raven H. Huang and his colleagues describe the first RNA repair system to be ...
Model suggests how life's code emerged from primordial soup
Aug 07, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (20) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1953, Stanley Miller filled two flasks with chemicals assumed to be present on the primitive Earth, connected the flasks with rubber tubes and introduced some electrical sparks as a stand-in for lightning. ...
Early evolution maximized the 'spellchecking' of protein sequences
Aug 06, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
1
As letters of the alphabet spell out words, when amino acids are linked to one another in a particular order they "spell out" proteins. But sometimes the cell machinery for building proteins in our bodies makes a mistake ...
Researchers decode structure of an entire HIV genome
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Aug 05, 2009 |
5 / 5 (8) |
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The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies ...
Gene transcribing machine takes halting, backsliding trip along the DNA
Jul 30, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The body's nanomachines that read our genes don't run as smoothly as previously thought, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
Secrets of a Life-Giving Amino Acid Revealed
Jul 16, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (10) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Selenium is a trace element crucial to life -- too little or too much of it is fatal. In the July 17 issue of the journal Science, researchers at Yale University and University of Illinois at Chi ...
MIT reels in RNA surprise with microbial ocean catch
May 13, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (9) |
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An ingenious new method of obtaining marine microbe samples while preserving the microbes' natural gene expression has yielded an unexpected boon: the presence of many varieties of small RNAs — snippets of RNA that act as ...
Nanotechnology holds promise for STD drug delivery
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 03, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
Yale researchers describe a breakthrough in safe and effective administration of potential antiviral drugs — small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules that silence genes — the first step in development of a ...
Scientists identify host factors critical to dengue virus infection
Apr 22, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
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By painstakingly silencing genes one at a time, scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified dozens of proteins the dengue fever virus depends upon to grow and spread among mosquitoes and humans.
International team cracks mammalian gene control code
Apr 20, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international consortium of scientists, including researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ), have probed further into the human genome than ever before.
A new gene silencing platform -- silence is golden
Biology /
Feb 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
1
A team of researchers led by Rutgers' Samuel Gunderson has developed a novel gene silencing platform with very significant improvements over existing RNAi approaches. This may enable the development and discovery of a new ...
New findings reveal how influenza virus hijacks human cells
Biology /
Feb 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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Influenza is and remains a disease to reckon with. Seasonal epidemics around the world kill several hundred thousand people every year. In the light of looming pandemics if bird flu strains develop the ability ...
Scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely
Jan 09, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (12) |
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Now, a pair of Scripps Research Institute scientists has taken a significant step toward answering that question. The scientists have synthesized for the first time RNA enzymes that can replicate themselves without the help ...
First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected
Nov 26, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (19) |
4
What are the bare essentials of life, the indispensable ingredients required to produce a cell that can survive on its own? Can we describe the molecular anatomy of a cell, and understand how an entire organism ...
