WE KNOW they are vital for growth and development in plants and worms, and now it seems that small pieces of RNA called microRNAs also play a key role in mammals. They might even point the way to new treatments for diabetes.
The conventional view is that the main function of RNA is to convey instructions from DNA to the protein-making factories in cells – a task carried out by large molecules of “messenger” RNA. But researchers recently discovered that short pieces of RNA called microRNAs can control the production of specific proteins by targeting their messenger RNA. MicroRNAs have…
