RNAs Running the Show
Riboswitches raise some interesting questions about genetic regulation
By Aileen Constans

Coming from various directions, a number of research groups stumbled upon a
naturally occurring mechanism for gene control that depends solely on RNA
and environmental cues. Though the working details for this largely
prokaryotic device are just now being revealed, so called riboswitches have
thus far intrigued and impressed. "It's a completely new, unsuspected way of
controlling gene expression," says David Lilley, professor of molecular
biology, University of Dundee, Scotland

With implications and applications for basic research and therapeutics,
riboswitches may represent another chisel chipping away at the now crumbling
notion of RNA as an intermediary between gene and protein. While some
disagree as to whether these are RNA-world relics, they certainly add to
what one researcher calls the "secret society" of RNAs acting as more than
messengers.

Read the rest at TheScientist
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2004/may/research1_040524.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek.
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 5/22/04 10:35:30 PM