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Come explore the fascinating world of cellular RNA Molecules with Mount Holyoke College Biochemistry 330 students.

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Transposons in reverse: a blessing or a curse?

Summary of main points Retrotransposons are a type of mobile genetic element (MGE) that can copy and paste themselves multiple times throughout the genome using an RNA intermediate. Retrotransposons are widely considered to be harmful and bad for cells. They resemble retroviruses and our cells have developed mechanisms to protect against retrotransposition.  The prevalence of retrotransposons throughout the tree of life suggests they are evolutionary important. This contrasts the negative effects that can cause in cells.  Retrotransposons are suggested to generate more genetic diversity locally and globally in a genome, which is consistent with their prevalence in humans among other species. The glossary at the end of the post may have some helpful information should you need it :)  Figure 1: The mechanism of DNA transposition. In the past ten years alone, the study of mobile genetic elements (MGEs), or DNA sequences that can move around within a genom...
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The RNase (P) for everyone

Ribonuclease P, or RNase P for short, is a catalytic RNA found in nearly every organism on earth (Fig 1). Discovered in 1978 by Stark, Kole, Bowman, and Altman, RNase P was the second type of ribozyme, an RNA that does the work of a protein, discovered, and the first to act exclusively on sequences not part of the same molecule as itself (1). While it was initially thought that both the RNA (called P RNA) and associated protein were necessary, further studies showed that the RNA alone has catalytic activity, making huge waves in the enzyme world (2). Figure 1 . RNAase P RNA structure across all domains of life and hypothesized "RNA world" with associated proteins. Adapted from Walker et al. 2008 P RNA folds into multiple helices and loops (Fig 2A) that connect with each other through base pairing (A-U and C-G) like in DNA and base stacking where the rings in each base stack and stick on top of each other to form a very stable structure (Fig 2B). Across all domains of ...
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IRES: The Trojan horse of Hepatitis C

Ana was 22 years old when she found out she had it… Hepatitis C! Unlike others her age, she hadn’t yet had a boyfriend, gotten tattoos in non sterile conditions, damaged her liver by excessive drinking in college, or shared needles to inject drugs, all of which are ways one can get the disease (1). All she had done was receive a kidney (a solid organ) from her uncle who was born in 1962 in Japan, one of the few industrialized countries with high Hepatitis C rates (2). She first noticed the massive bruises on her arms and legs 6 months ago followed by the yellowing of her eyes (jaundice). Her doctor thought it was her body rejecting the kidney and causing her to have reduced platelets but after getting a biopsy, it turned out her liver had become cirrhotic and was failing. Cirrhosis is a chronic disease that leads to inflammation which, over time, replaces healthy liver cells with scar tissue. It takes about 20 to 30 years for this to happen (or faster if alcohol is drunk or if someon...
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