New RNA Molecule Impacts Gene Function

Oct 29, 11:37 AM

Current Headlines: U.S. scientists determined a newly discovered class of tiny molecules of ribonucleic acid, or RNA, have a significant impact on gene function.

The Yale University Stem Cell Center researchers demonstrated for the first time a type of RNA called piwi-interacting RNA, or piRNs, performs crucial functions in controlling stem cell fate and other processes of tissue function serving as regulatory proteins.

Professor Haifan Lin, director of the stem cell center, heads the laboratory that originally identified piRNAs.

These small RNAs might provide new tools to harness the behavior of stem cells and other biological processes related to diseases, said Lin. This finding revealed a surprisingly important role for piRNAs Â… in stem cell division. It calls upon biologists to look for answers beyond the 1 percent of the genome with protein coding capacity to the vast land of junk (non-coding) DNA, which constitutes 99 percent of the genome.

The research is detailed in the journal Nature.