Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Author Spotlight: AQRNA-seq Role in Mapping Small RNAs and Unraveling Protein Translation Mechanisms
Published on: February 2, 2024
Ancient pathways programmed by small RNAs
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Lazare Research Building, Room 825, 364 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. phillip.zamore@umassmed.edu
Abstract:
Double-stranded RNA can now be used in a wide variety of eukaryotes to suppress the expression of virtually any gene, allowing the rapid analysis of that gene's function, a technique known as RNA interference. But how cells use the information in double-stranded RNA to suppress gene expression and why they contain the machinery to do so remain the subjects of intense scrutiny. Current evidence suggests that RNA interference and other "RNA silencing" phenomena reflect an elaborate cellular apparatus that eliminates abundant but defective messenger RNAs and defends against molecular parasites such as transposons and viruses.
Related Concept Videos
piRNA - Piwi-interacting RNAs
siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the...
lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
Small interfering RNAs (siRNA)
C4 Pathway and CAM
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...

