4 ms·

Another thing is that the current world is more hostile to RNA. Anyone who has ever worked with RNA will tell you that you need to be very careful during the pr

by ufo 6y ago

Another thing is that the current world is more hostile to RNA. Anyone who has ever worked with RNA will tell you that you need to be very careful during the preparation to avoid contamination with ribonuclease enzymes that degrade RNA. We're covered in them.

tachyonbeam 6y ago
It might just be that DNA has a better sweet-spot in terms of mutation probability, useful for evolution, and robustness, important for survival and transmission of useful genetic information.
jonplackett 6y ago
Is that an antiviral defense or something else?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jiggawatts 6y ago
This comment and its sibling is very interesting to me, because it's something I hadn't heard before. Why are ribonuclease enzymes so omnipresent? Is this the only reason why RNA is so difficult to work with, or are there other technical hurdles that are more difficult to overcome? Are we missing a big piece of the biological puzzle because of this? Any recent developments in this area?
- keithwhor 6y ago
  RNA is a less stable molecule than DNA — it can be single-stranded, form double strands, self-pair (form loops), react readily with proteins... just difficult to deal with. On top of that, as mentioned, RNAses (enzymes that destroy RNA) are everywhere. Your skin secretes them as an anti-pathogen defense against viral RNA [0]. So do a plethora of other living organisms including single-celled bacteria ubiquitous in the atmosphere and on surfaces. I haven’t heard of any recent developments — it’s been a decade since I was in grad school and now I build software — but I briefly studied a subcategory of ribozyme called self-splicing group I introns which is where my interest comes from. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribonuclease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribonuclease [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_I_catalytic_intron https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_I_catalytic_intron
  - jiggawatts 6y ago
    > In addition, active RNA degradation systems are a first defense against RNA viruses, and provide the underlying machinery for more advanced cellular immune strategies such as RNAi. Huh... today I learned. I didn't realise we have such "low-level" immune defences, I always just assumed that the simplest defence we had were antibodies.

by ufo 6y ago

tachyonbeam 6y ago

It might just be that DNA has a better sweet-spot in terms of mutation probability, useful for evolution, and robustness, important for survival and transmission of useful genetic information.

jonplackett 6y ago

Is that an antiviral defense or something else?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

jiggawatts 6y ago

This comment and its sibling is very interesting to me, because it's something I hadn't heard before. Why are ribonuclease enzymes so omnipresent? Is this the only reason why RNA is so difficult to work with, or are there other technical hurdles that are more difficult to overcome? Are we missing a big piece of the biological puzzle because of this? Any recent developments in this area?

keithwhor 6y ago
RNA is a less stable molecule than DNA — it can be single-stranded, form double strands, self-pair (form loops), react readily with proteins... just difficult to deal with. On top of that, as mentioned, RNAses (enzymes that destroy RNA) are everywhere. Your skin secretes them as an anti-pathogen defense against viral RNA [0]. So do a plethora of other living organisms including single-celled bacteria ubiquitous in the atmosphere and on surfaces. I haven’t heard of any recent developments — it’s been a decade since I was in grad school and now I build software — but I briefly studied a subcategory of ribozyme called self-splicing group I introns which is where my interest comes from. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribonuclease https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribonuclease [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_I_catalytic_intron https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_I_catalytic_intron
- jiggawatts 6y ago
  > In addition, active RNA degradation systems are a first defense against RNA viruses, and provide the underlying machinery for more advanced cellular immune strategies such as RNAi. Huh... today I learned. I didn't realise we have such "low-level" immune defences, I always just assumed that the simplest defence we had were antibodies.