By Kim Berard

I’ve given DNA a lot of love over the years – DNA as a storage mediumthere is a computing platformas Basics of Robotsas a tool Synthetic Biology/Biohackingeven for DNA-of-Things (DoT).DNA is the foundation of all life as we know it, in every type of life we ??find anywhere on Earth. Our use of it now to achieve technological goals seems to be one of humanity’s greatest achievements.

But where is the love for RNA, DNA’s putative ancestor and still mate? Some recent developments in RNA have caught my attention and I want to give them their due.

You may recall from high school biology that RNA played a vital role in how DNA carried genetic information.as a source explain it: “DNA has information, but it generally does not actively apply it. DNA does not make thing. Instead, it transcribes the information onto RNA and then actually makes things happen.

Just last week, researchers from Northwestern University able to display RNA switch genes, using a simulation model they “affectionately” called R2D2 (short for “reconstructing RNA dynamics from data”). The researchers believe that the “strand displacement” mechanism is what causes genes to be turned “on” or “off.”

Professor Julius B. Lucks, who co-led the study, said: “Many diseases are likely to be caused by errors at the RNA level. The more we know about this, the better we can design RNA-targeted drugs and RNA therapeutics.” For example, genes can be “designed to turn on in the presence of environmental pollutants.”

Amazing stuff. But that’s not all.

researchers at the University of Tokyo created an RNA molecule This can not only be replicated, but developed. There was a hypothesis a long time ago, called “RNA world,” which speculates that RNA was the basis for the origin of life, while DNA came later (DNA was thought not to be stable enough to survive, let alone evolve, in a primitive environment). This research makes this hypothesis even more plausible.

The team seeded an RNA molecule that evolved into several lineages before stabilizing: “The final population, including five RNA lineages, formed a replicon network with multiple interactions, including cooperation to help all other members of the copy.”

The results were somewhat surprising, even to the researchers. “Honestly, we initially wondered whether such diverse RNAs could evolve and coexist,” said Ryo Mizuuchi, corresponding author of the study.

We may never know how life on Earth actually emerged, but researchers claim:

Our results demonstrate the evolutionary transition scenario of molecular replicators from a single common ancestor to a multi-member network… Thus, our simple experimental setup provides a unique approach to deeply study evolutionary phenomena.

OK, here are two longstanding mysteries that RNA has answered or at least solved. Here’s a more interesting one: RNA computers.

People have been talking about DNA computers for years. However, as NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Say:

Once the technology fully matures, tiny biocomputers made of DNA could revolutionize the way we diagnose and treat a range of diseases. However, a major hurdle for these DNA-based devices that can operate in cells and liquid solutions is their short lifespan. Just use it once and the computer will run out.

instead, in a new paper, NIST researchers use RNA to build computers. Or, more precisely:

Here, we develop scalable co-transcriptional coding RNA strand displacement (ctRSD) circuits that are rationally programmed through base-pairing interactions. The ctRSD circuit addresses the limitations of DNA-based strand displacement circuits by isothermally generating circuit components by transcription.

Samuel Schaffter, lead author and NIST postdoctoral fellow, explain How DNA and RNA calculations differ from typical calculations: “The difference is that instead of coding with 1s and 0s, you write strings of A, T, C, and G, which are the four chemical bases that make up DNA base.” The authors tested whether RNA-based circuits could perform logic operations (I won’t even try to describe exactly how they do it).

PhD.Shaft Say“To me, these need to be as predictive as DNA computing in a test tube. The nice thing about DNA circuits is that most of the time, you can write a sequence down on a piece of paper and it will work the way you want. The key here is that we did find that the RNA circuits are very predictable and programmable, actually a lot more than I thought.”

The authors are very excited about future applications. For example, “We envision the ctRSD circuit enabling many new applications in nucleic acid computing and synthetic biology. For example, the inclusion of ribonucleases in the ctRSD circuit would allow continuous circuit turnover. The circuit can then react to changing input signals. multiple responses, thereby overcoming current challenges in DNA computing.”

As for the next step, Dr. Shaft See“We’re interested in putting these next into bacteria. We wondered: Can we use our strategy to encapsulate circuit designs into genetic materials? Can we get the same performance and behavior when the circuit is inside a battery?” ? We have potential.”

I can not wait anymore raspberry pie Introducing their RNA-based computer. look.

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All of this sounds esoteric and maybe doesn’t apply to the immediate dilemma of our healthcare system, but I’m thinking about the remaining 21^stone century and beyond.as i have said before20^th The century may be the age of computers, but 21^stone The century will be the age of biology.

If we believe 20^th Century ushered in “modern medicine” with more scientific tools used by trained professionals (think antibiotics, imaging, laparoscopic surgery, artificial intelligence, etc.), then 21^stone Century Healthcare will be about synthetic biology. Considering DNA and RNA is not just something healthcare professionals do to meet undergraduate requirements. It will be an integral part of their toolset.

The very interesting and disruptive thing is not only how this change will affect our health and healthcare, but also in a world where biologists/biochemists/geneticists may play a bigger role, doctors, nurses , what happens in the pharmacy.

Kim was the former head of e-marketing for the Blues major program, the late and lamented editor tincture.ionow a regular THCB contributor.