Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Using the E1A Minigene Tool to Study mRNA Splicing Changes
Published on: April 22, 2021
Alternative splicing and genomic stability
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. cahill@unm.edu
Abstract:
Alternative splicing allows an organism to make different proteins in different cells at different times, all from the same gene. In a cell that uses alternative splicing, the total length of all the exons is much shorter than in a cell that encodes the same set of proteins without alternative splicing. This economical use of exons makes genes more stable during reproduction and development because a genome with a shorter exon length is more resistant to harmful mutations. Genomic stability may be the reason why higher vertebrates splice alternatively. For a broad class of alternatively spliced genes, a formula is given for the increase in their stability.
Related Concept Videos
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
RNA Splicing
RNA Splicing
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Gene Conversion
