Volume 3 Issue 1, January 2007

As cellular machines and processes that regulate the flow of genomic information have come into sharper focus, a new level of chemical control has become possible. The scope of such chemical intervention extends from the mechanistic dissection of biochemical processes in living cells to the targeted control of gene networks and cell fate.

RNA interference provides powerful tools for controlling gene expression in cultured cells. Whether RNAi will provide similarly powerful drugs is unknown. Lessons from development of antisense oligonucleotide drugs may provide some clues.

Nestled in an atmosphere that resembles a national park, the Center for Molecular Biology of RNA at the University of California, Santa Cruz is fulfilling Harry Noller's vision of bringing together multidisciplinary researchers to solve problems that range from finding obscure RNAs to understanding the origin of life.

A copper-responsive transcriptional repressor with an unusual DNA binding fold has been identified that represents the founding member of an extensive new family of bacterial transcriptional regulators.

Drug-resistant bacteria are a growing challenge to world health, and new approaches to antibiotic development are needed. Riboswitches, regulatory elements of mRNA, are shown to be a potential new target for antibiotic drugs.

Imagine being able to rapidly switch on your favorite protein at a specified concentration, location and time in a live multicellular organism. Sounds like a dream? Recent advances in controlling protein splicing with small molecules are close to making it a reality.

After years of waiting, the road map for the path of the mRNA on the ribosome with its associated tRNAs has been completed. In contrast to the amino-acid-coding nucleotides of the body of the mRNA, the Shine-Delgarno region appears to take an unexpected turn on the surface of the 30S subunit in the transition from the initiation complex to the postinitiation complex.

RIG-I is an RNA helicase that senses viral infections and triggers innate and adaptive immune mechanisms. Recent studies have identified RNAs bearing 5′-triphosphates as ligands of RIG-I and have suggested a mechanism for how RIG-I distinguishes viral RNA from host RNA.

RNA has occupied a pivotal position in the 'central dogma' of molecular biology, which states that information flows from DNA through RNA to proteins. In this issue, we feature a collection of articles that discuss the diverse functional roles of RNA in biological systems and highlight recent discoveries in RNA chemical biology, including advances in transcription, RNA structural biology, RNA interference and RNA engineering.