Talk:Piwi-interacting RNA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Molecular and Cellular Biology WikiProject This article is within the scope of the Molecular and Cellular Biology WikiProject. To participate, visit the WikiProject for more information. The WikiProject's current monthly collaboration is focused on improving Restriction enzyme.
Stub This article has been rated as stub-Class on the assessment scale.
Low This article is on a subject of low-importance within molecular and cellular biology.

Article Grading: The article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.

The top paragraph says the oligonucleotides are between 29-30 nucleotides, while the second section says they are 26-31 nucleotides. So which is correct?



It seems piRNA are also found in fruit flies, time to remove the "uniquely mammalian" phrase?

Address : <http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/yu-sdt102507.php> Scientists discover tiny RNAs play a big role in controlling genes In this study Lin and his Ph.D. student, Hang Yin, discovered more than 13,000 Piwi-associated piRNAs in fruit flies. One particular piRNA, they found, forms a complex with the protein known as Piwi, which then binds to chromatin, a strategic region in the genome that regulates the activity of the gene. Chromatin’s role is to package DNA so that it will fit into the cell, to strengthen the DNA to allow cell division, and to serve as a mechanism to control gene expression. “This is important in maintaining self-renewal of stem cells,” Lin said. “These small RNAs might provide new tools to harness the behavior of stem cells and other biological processes related to diseases.” “This finding revealed a surprisingly important role for piRNAs, as well as junk DNA, in stem cell division,” Lin said. “It calls upon biologists to look for answers beyond the one percent of the genome with protein coding capacity to the vast land of junk DNA, which constitutes 99 percent of the genome.” Nature: Advance Online Publication doi:10.1038/nature06263

--Meika 21:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)