the.com/rna
the molecule that ran the planet before DNA showed up and took the credit
means Ribonucleic acid, the single-stranded molecule that carries genetic instructions and helps build proteins, doing much of the cell's hands-on chemical work.
from An acronym for ribonucleic acid. "Ribo-" comes from ribose, the sugar in its backbone — a name coined in the late 19th century, likely a rearrangement of "arabinose," another sugar. "Nucleic" traces to the Latin nucleus ("little nut, kernel"), because these acids were first isolated from the nuclei of cells in the 1860s. So the name quietly records where it was found and what it's made of: kernel-acid built on ribose.
- origin theory
- likely came first in the RNA world hypothesis
- does everything
- stores, copies, and even cuts itself
- vaccine fame
- mRNA shots ended pandemic in record time
- self-cutting
- ribozymes are RNA that act as enzymes
- fragile
- degrades fast, so cells keep it disposable
mrna covid-19 vaccines — pfizer-biontech and moderna vaccines use synthetic mrna to trigger immune response, approved 2020
crispr gene editing — uses rna guide sequences to direct cas9 protein to cut dna, nobel prize 2020
rnai interference therapy — patisiran approved by fda 2018 for hereditary amyloidosis, uses small interfering rna