Small RNA-guided gene silencing

The genetic information encoded by DNA is transcribed to mRNA molecules which are subsequently translated into proteins. However, only a minor portion of the human genome encodes for proteins. The bulk of the human DNA is non-coding. Interestingly, non-coding DNA is constantly transcribed into non-coding RNA and it was found that such non-coding RNAs have fundamental cellular functions. Extensive research of the past years revealed that non-coding RNAs can also play important roles in the pathogenesis of diseases including various forms of cancer.