MICRO RNA?
YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF MICRO RNA YET, BUT YOU WILL, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Micro-RNAs are a class of genetic material that is increasingly gaining attention in research circles. Josh Mendell and colleagues at Johns Hopkins are studying micro-RNAs and their role in a growing number of cancers. He explains that the molecules were hiding in plain sight until about 10 years ago.
MENDELL: One of the reasons people are very interested in them is that one single micro-RNA has the ability to control the regulation of hundreds of genes that make proteins. So by changing the level of a single micro-RNA you can have very profound effects on processes in a cell or behavior of a cell, and what we have found in different types of tumor cells by changing the levels of even one micro-RNA in a cancer cell, we can profoundly influence the behavior of those cancer cells, and in some cases we can completely block their ability to contribute to further tumors. :33
So you’ll likely be hearing much more about micro-RNAs. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
