A team of local scientists has identified how ribonucleic acid (RNA) is degraded, a discovery that could lead to important clues on treating incurable diseases.  
 
The RNA research team at the Daejeon-based Institute for Basic Science said it discovered that messenger RNA developed a long tail in the process of growth. Messenger RNAs, or mRNAs, are a large family of RNA molecules that deliver genetic information from the nuclear DNA to a ribosome in the cytoplasm where they serve as a template for protein synthesis.
 
The research team found that mRNA decay begins with the molecules' tails getting shorter and that TUT4 and TUT7 enzymes uridylate, thereby facilitating mRNA decay. Uridylate means to modify by adding one or more uridine moieties.
 
The team believes that it will be able to easily remove cells related to incurable diseases if it develops the technology to degrade mRNAs by modifying their tails.
 
The team’s latest research was published in the latest online edition of “Cell,” a biweekly publication of molecular and cell biology.