Comparison of a single-stranded RNA and a double-stranded DNA with their corresponding nucleobases. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, CC SA 3.0) The most common type of base pairing is the Watson-Crick base ...

Nucleic acids are complex biological molecules that store and transmit genetic information in all living organisms. They are essential for the survival and reproduction of life on Earth. The two main ...

RNAs play an integral part in all kingdoms of life and mediate critical processes from gene regulation to genomic maintenance and protein synthesis. RNAs also have an amazing diversity in structure ...

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA enzyme, or “ribozyme,” that carries out a fundamental reaction required to make new ...

The RNA helicase DDX3X spends its days unwinding RNA:RNA duplexes and binding key mediators of RNA metabolism. A regulator of RNA transcription, splicing, nuclear export, and translation, DDX3X plays ...

Many viruses have genomes made of RNA. In human cells, messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules act as intermediates; cellular machinery copies a DNA sequence into mRNA so that it can then be translated into a ...

Thomas Gingeras did not intend to upend basic ideas about how the human body works. In 2012 the geneticist, now at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York State, was one of a few hundred colleagues ...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world. Our ...