4 ms·

mRNA = messenger RNA; miRNA = microRNA, which is the subject of 2024's Nobel

by passwordoops 2y ago

aquafox 2y ago
mRNA = messenger RNA miRNA = microRNA tRNA = transfer RNA rRNA = ribosomal RNA siRNA = small interfering RNA
- georgeburdell 2y ago
  Interesting… at least in my field, the prefix “micro” gets abbreviated with a “u” since it looks very close to the lowercase Greek letter μ (mu), as “micro” itself is Greek in origin
  - LordKeren 2y ago
    Typically I see “u” used in instances where it is the actual SI Unit prefix for 10^-6, and leaving it as “mirco” is used when in its more common form for “very small”
    - twic 2y ago
      The only exception i can think of off hand is "uP" as a very rare abbreviation for "microprocessor": https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/microprocessor https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/microprocessor
    - jnordwick 2y ago
      micro-operation in a CPU is uop.
  - bratwurst3000 2y ago
    was thinking the same. it could be mi instead of u because the other one are not size related
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - aquafox 2y ago
    In this case, the phrase micro does mean the metric prefix 10^-6, but just "smaller than mRNA". The important unit in biology is nucleotides [1], which are the elements specifying the composition of proteins (loosely speaking, the "atoms of biology"). mRNA typically has on the order of thousands of nucleotides, whereas miRNAs have about 20 nucleotides. The physical size of miRNAs is actually ~3nm. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500609/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500609/
    - georgeburdell 2y ago
      Yes, but it’s quite common to use “micro” to mean “small” in some technical fields. Example: Microprocessor
- birriel 2y ago
  mtRNA = mitochondrial RNA
- teleforce 2y ago
  These probably this joke is about, Every Scientific Field: https://xkcd.com/2986/ https://xkcd.com/2986/
  - passwordoops 2y ago
    Good one, but not really applicable here. Everyone in the greater domains of biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, and medicine (and maybe more) should know all of these types of RNA

mRNA = messenger RNA; miRNA = microRNA, which is the subject of 2024's Nobel

aquafox 2y ago

mRNA = messenger RNA miRNA = microRNA tRNA = transfer RNA rRNA = ribosomal RNA siRNA = small interfering RNA

georgeburdell 2y ago
Interesting… at least in my field, the prefix “micro” gets abbreviated with a “u” since it looks very close to the lowercase Greek letter μ (mu), as “micro” itself is Greek in origin
- LordKeren 2y ago
  Typically I see “u” used in instances where it is the actual SI Unit prefix for 10^-6, and leaving it as “mirco” is used when in its more common form for “very small”
  - twic 2y ago
    The only exception i can think of off hand is "uP" as a very rare abbreviation for "microprocessor": https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/microprocessor https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/microprocessor
  - jnordwick 2y ago
    micro-operation in a CPU is uop.
- bratwurst3000 2y ago
  was thinking the same. it could be mi instead of u because the other one are not size related
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- aquafox 2y ago
  In this case, the phrase micro does mean the metric prefix 10^-6, but just "smaller than mRNA". The important unit in biology is nucleotides [1], which are the elements specifying the composition of proteins (loosely speaking, the "atoms of biology"). mRNA typically has on the order of thousands of nucleotides, whereas miRNAs have about 20 nucleotides. The physical size of miRNAs is actually ~3nm. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleotide [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500609/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500609/
  - georgeburdell 2y ago
    Yes, but it’s quite common to use “micro” to mean “small” in some technical fields. Example: Microprocessor
birriel 2y ago
mtRNA = mitochondrial RNA
teleforce 2y ago
These probably this joke is about, Every Scientific Field: https://xkcd.com/2986/ https://xkcd.com/2986/
- passwordoops 2y ago
  Good one, but not really applicable here. Everyone in the greater domains of biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, and medicine (and maybe more) should know all of these types of RNA