Conference report
Ofir Davidovich, TAU
Ofir will report on the Human Genome Meeting (HGM2007) that
was held on May in Montreal.
He will present a paper titled "Non-coding RNA" by John S. Mattick and Igor
V. Makunin from the University of Queensland, Australia.
Abstract:
The term non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is commonly employed for RNA that does not
encode a protein, but this does not mean that such RNAs do not contain
information nor have function. Although it has been generally
assumed that most genetic information is transacted by proteins, recent
evidence suggests that the majority of the genomes of mammals and other
complex organisms is in fact transcribed into ncRNAs, many of which
are alternatively spliced and/or processed into smaller products. These
ncRNAs include microRNAs and snoRNAs (many if not most of which remain to
be identified), as well as likely other classes of yet-to-be-discovered
small regulatory RNAs, and tens of thousands of longer transcripts (including
complex patterns of interlacing and overlapping sense and antisense transcripts),
most of whose functions are unknown. These RNAs (including those derived
from introns) appear to comprise a hidden layer of internal signals that
control various levels of gene expression in physiology and development,
including chromatin architecture/epigenetic memory, transcription,
RNA splicing, editing, translation and turnover. RNA regulatory
networks may determine most of our complex characteristics, play a
significant role in disease and constitute an unexplored world of genetic
variation both within and between species.