André Schneider and Norbert Polacek. Picture: DCB, University of Bern.
Researchers of the University of Bern have discovered a new molecular regulatory mechanism in unicellular parasites which has never before been observed. RNA fragments do not act as brakes in the cell apparatus, but on the contrary as "stimulants": they boost protein production after periods of stress. The classic molecular-biological narrative has a simple form: Gene-RNA-protein. This is what we learned in school: DNA is transcribed into RNA. In the protein factories (the so-called ribosomes), the RNA serves as a kind of punch card - the proteins are assembled by the machinery exactly according to the DNA template. A single large apparatus can thus produce a wide variety of proteins. In recent decades, however, biologists have realised that this scheme is far too simple, in particular with regard to the role of RNA.
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