Deep Discoveries in RNA Editing

Genome research keeps getting more interesting. Basic views of DNA, RNA, and proteins have been modified with further research, and additional discoveries are even more amazing. Alternative splicing was already very interesting, but complex RNA editing has been discovered in an unlikely place: the squid.

Yes, I know that Squidward isn't really a squid, the character is a misnamed octopus thingie.

Evolution? Not hardly! The detail and complexity of RNA editing in the squid shows the hand of the Master Engineer at work, and there's still a passel more to learn.

When the workings of the genome were first being discovered, the central evolutionary dogma of molecular biology claimed that genetic information passes consistently from DNA to RNA to proteins. Now we know that RNA messages can be altered by a variety of mechanisms, and a new study in squid genetics has vaulted one of these processes—called RNA editing—to an unprecedented level of biocomplexity.

All major animal groups from jellyfish to humans use amazing cellular machinery to modify RNA transcribed from both protein-coding and non-coding RNA genes. One of the first such systems to be discovered was that of alternative splicing, where a single gene could have its modular components added, removed, doubled, or even combined with the products of a completely separate gene. Thus, a single gene can produce a wide array of RNA variants, including many different protein forms if the RNAs are translated (made into proteins).

To read the rest, click on "RNA Editing: Biocomplexity Hits a New High".