RNA is the molecule that reads the genetic information stored in DNA. It's critical for the proper functioning of cells, and in a new study scientists have discovered a way of tagging RNA with a glowing bioluminescent molecule that allows them to track RNA in real time as it moves throughout the body.
RNA is the molecule that reads the genetic information stored in DNA. It's critical for the proper functioning of cells, and in a new study scientists have discovered a way of tagging RNA with a glowing bioluminescent molecule that allows them to track RNA in real time as it moves throughout the body. The work promises to help scientists better understand everything from the way viruses propagate to how memories form in the brain.
Until now, little was known about how and when RNA does what it does inside cells."It turns out it's been really quite difficult to know in living cells, and especially in living organisms, when RNA is turned on and where it goes," said Lupták."If you wanted to study the first 30 seconds or the first minute -- nobody knows. But we provide a tool. You can now visualize it.
"There's a lot of interesting biology that's happening at the RNA level in neurons," said Prescher."And being able to see early events and the transport of RNA from the cell body out to neural synapses where connections are being made to other neurons -- that directly correlates with memory formation. If you have a way to watch that in real-time, that could tell you something fundamental about the brain and memory, which has been a holy grail in science for a long time.
The study was supported by a grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation awarded to Lupták, Prescher and Steward.Lila P. Halbers, Kyle H. Cole, Kevin K. Ng, Erin B. Fuller, Christelle E. T. Chan, Chelsea Callicoatte, Mariajose Metcalfe, Claire C. Chen, Ahfnan A. Barhoosh, Edison Reid-McLaughlin, Alexandra D. Kent, Zachary R. Torrey, Oswald Steward, Andrej Lupták, Jennifer A. Prescher.
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