RNA Technologies and Their Applications
RNA technologies are the driving forces of modern medicine and biotechnology. They combine the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, physics, nanotechnology and bioinformatics. The combination of these topics is set to revolu
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Volker A. Erdmann
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Jan Barciszewski
Editors
RNA Technologies and Their Applications
Editors Prof. Dr. Volker A. Erdmann FU Berlin Inst. Chemie und Biochemie Thielallee 63 14195 Berlin Germany [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Jan Barciszewski PAN Poznan Inst. Bioorganic Chemistry ul. Z. Noskowskiego 12/14 61-704 Poznan Poland [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-12167-8 e-ISBN 978-3-642-12168-5 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-12168-5 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934375 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
For almost 50 years, our understanding of molecular processes was very much influenced by a statement formulated by Francis Crick, which is known as the “central dogma of molecular biology.” According to this dogma, DNA is converted to an mRNA and the mRNA to a protein. Another way of stating this dogma is that one gene is converted to one mRNA and the mRNA to one protein with one function. The present day molecular biology relies basically on genomic data for creating new hypotheses, which allow the replacement of the term “descriptive science” by the much more attractive “discovery science.” The discovery science has revolutionized biology and gave new tools for hypothesis-driven research, which concerns primarily, but not exclusively, nucleic acids. The interest to apply RNA structural and functional characteristics in molecular biology and medicine began in the late 1980s, when catalytic RNAs and in vitro selection approaches were an exciting new frontier. Now, thirty years after those discoveries, we begin to understand the novel aspects of RNA biology. Although the pathways and molecular components involved in RNA-mediated gene regulation are being elucidated very rapidly, the chemical and mechanistic basis still has to be worked out. The understanding of molecular mechanisms, and the possibilities for employing these processes for therapeutic purposes, falls surely into the realm of chemical biology. T
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