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PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have important roles in various species, particularly in silencing transposons in the germ line. This Review describes our latest understanding of various steps in this process, from the specification of piRNA-producing loci to piRNA processing and nuclear effector functions, including a role in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.
This Review discusses roles for microRNAs in adult animals — including in adult stem cells, metabolism and in cancer — and how functions in adults can be distinguished from developmental roles using a range of methods. Understanding adult-specific functions has implications for therapeutic manipulation of miRNAs.
Despite the impact of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on disease genetics, there has been scepticism about their usefulness in clinical translation. This Review highlights pertinent examples in which clinical application has been achieved or is likely and considers the wider potential for translation.
In this article, the authors present a synthesis of the emerging field of evolutionary biochemistry. This field has profited from the development of experimental techniques that allow the study of the physical mechanisms and evolutionary processes that have constrained and shaped biological molecules.
Our understanding of transcription is being improved through single-molecule and genome-wide approaches. Quantitative models are also required to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of transcription, and the authors discuss how experimental results and models can be brought together.
The authors discuss strategies and challenges of population-based studies of epigenetic variation. Such studies should contribute to our understanding of the contribution of epigenetic factors to human disease, but need to be performed and interpreted with consideration of their limitations.
