J-RNA Production Revs Up During Cell-To-Cell Contact

MicroRNAs are single-stranded snippets that, not long ago, were given short shrift as genetic junk. Now that studies have shown they regulate genes involved in normal functioning as well as diseases such as cancer, everyone wants to know: What regulates microRNAs? Scientists at Johns Hopkins were surprised to find an elegantly simple answer: touch.

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Filed under: Biology on May 6th, 2009