Nucleic Acids

RNA Editing and Interference

RNA editing is a molecular technique through which certain cells can make discrete changes to specific nucleotide sequences within a RNA molecule after it has been generated by RNA polymerase. RNA editing has been observed in the RNA sequences of viruses, archaea and prokaryotes. RNA editing occurs in the cell nucleus and cytosol, as well as within mitochondria and plastids. In vertebrates, editing is rare & usually consists of a minor amount of changes to the sequence of affected molecules. Two types of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules – microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) – are central to RNA interference. The study of RNA interference incudes its variation among organisms, cellular mechanisms,  biological functions like up regulation of genes, immunity, down regulation of genes and its applications in gene knockdown, functional genomics, medicine and biotechnology. The University of Albany situated at New York is rigorously involved towards all the novel research on RNA. The RNA Institute maintained by Paul Agris (University at Albany) is the best known platform for carrying out RNA analysis. Added to that, The RNA Society formed in 1993 facilitates sharing and dissemination of experimental results and emerging concepts in ribonucleic acid research.