Tag: RNA

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Understanding RNA-Modifying Enzymes: Q&A With Jeffrey Mugridge

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A portrait image of Jeffrey Mugridge.
Credit: Courtesy of Jeffrey Mugridge.

“One of the best aspects of research is the excitement of discovery, being the first person in the world to know a small detail about the system you’re studying,” says Jeffrey Mugridge, Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware in Newark. We talked with Dr. Mugridge about how a pet store job sparked his early interest in science, why he decided to change his career trajectory after graduate school, and what he believes is key to being a successful researcher.

Q: How did you first become interested in science?

A: My strong interest in science didn’t develop until I was in high
school—I wasn’t one of those kids who had a chemistry set or a deep love for dinosaurs or anything like that. But in high school, I worked in a pet store, where I learned a lot about aquarium science, including the ins and outs of managing water chemistry to keep fish alive. I also had a fantastic chemistry teacher who really helped me foster a love for the field.

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Investigating the Secrets of Cancer-Causing Viruses

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A portrait of Dr. Mandy Muller.
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Mandy Muller.

While she was in graduate school, Mandy Muller, Ph.D., became intrigued with viruses that are oncogenic, meaning they can cause cancer. At the time, she was researching human papillomaviruses (HPVs), which can lead to cervical and throat cancer, among other types. Now, as an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst, Dr. Muller studies Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which causes the rare AIDS-associated cancer Kaposi sarcoma.

A Continental Change

Dr. Muller has come a long way, both geographically and professionally, since her childhood in France. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school, where she excelled in science, and went on to attend École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Lyon, a research-oriented undergraduate institution in Lyon, France. “We spent weeks at a time in laboratory-based classes, working in real labs. That’s when I realized people could do research full-time, which caught my attention,” says Dr. Muller. She double-majored in biology and geology, and soon chose to focus her career on immunology and virology.

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Science Snippet: RNA’s Remarkable Roles

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RNA, though less well known than its cousin DNA, is equally integral to our bodies. RNA molecules are long, usually single-stranded chains of nucleotides. (DNA molecules are also made up of nucleotides but are typically double-stranded.) There are three major types of RNA, which are all involved in protein synthesis:

  • Messenger RNA (mRNA) is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene and carries genetic information for protein synthesis to the ribosome—the molecular complex in which proteins are made.
  • Transfer RNA (tRNA) works with mRNA to make sure the right amino acids are inserted into the forming protein.
  • Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), together with proteins, makes up ribosomes and functions to recognize the mRNA and tRNA that are presented to the ribosomal complex.
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Pathways: The Vaccine Science Issue

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A magazine cover showing a cross-section of a sphere with spikes on its surface and a coil inside. Text reads: “The spike protein. What does it have to do with the COVID-19 vaccines? (Find out inside.)”
Cover of Pathways student magazine.

NIGMS is pleased to bring you Pathways: The Vaccine Science Issue [PDF], which explains how the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for COVID-19 work and how they were developed. Building on years of research, scientists were able to create these vaccines, thoroughly test them, and get them to the public as quickly as possible—while still making sure they were safe and effective.

Pathways, designed for students in grades 6 through 12, aims to build awareness of basic biomedical science and its importance to health while inspiring careers in research. All materials in the collection are available online for free.

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In Other Words: Translation Isn’t Only for Languages

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In everyday use, most people understand translation to mean converting words from one language to another. But when biologists talk about translation, they mean the process of making proteins based on the genetic information encoded in messenger RNA (mRNA). Proteins are essential for virtually every process in our bodies, from transporting oxygen to defending against infection, so translation is vital for keeping us alive and healthy.

Below the title “Translation: In Other Words,” two images are separated by a jagged line. On the left, is a large speech bubble with the word “hello” surrounded by smaller speech bubbles with greetings in other languages, and on the right is a ribosome producing a protein. Under the images, text reads, “Did you know? In biomedical science, translation refers to the process of making proteins based on genetic information encoded in messenger RNA.”
Credit: NIGMS.
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Scientist Interview: Exploring the Promise of RNA Switches with Christina Dawn Smolke

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Whether animals are looking for food or mates, or avoiding pathogens and predators, they rely on biosensors—molecules that allow them to sense and respond to their environments. Christina Dawn Smolke, Ph.D. Link to external web site, a professor of bioengineering at Stanford University in California, focuses her research on creating new kinds of biosensors to receive, process, and transmit molecular information. Her lab has built RNA molecules, or switches, that can alter gene expression based on biochemical changes they detect.

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RNA Polymerase: A Target for New Antibiotic Drugs?

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DNA, with its double-helix shape, is the stuff of genes. But genes themselves are only “recipes” for protein molecules, which are molecules that do the real heavy lifting (or do much of the work) inside cells.

RNAP illustrated as a crab claw, clamping on a DNA double helix. Artist interpretation of RNAP grasping and unwinding a DNA double helix. Credit: Wei Lin and Richard H. Ebright.

Here’s how it works. A molecular machine called RNA polymerase (RNAP) travels along DNA to find a place where a gene begins. RNAP uses a crab-claw-like structure to grasp and unwind the DNA double helix at that spot. RNAP then copies (“transcribes”) the gene into messenger RNA (mRNA), a molecule similar to DNA.

The mRNA molecule travels to one of the cell’s many protein-making factories (ribosomes), which use the mRNA message as instructions for making a specific protein.

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A Scientist’s Exploration of Regeneration

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Viravuth (“Voot”) Yin, standing with arms crossed and smiling in front of a shelves holding tanks of zebrafish in his lab. Viravuth (“Voot”) Yin, associate professor of regenerative biology and medicine at MDI Biological Laboratory and chief scientific officer at Novo Biosciences, Inc., in Bar Harbor, Maine. Credit: MDI Biological Laboratory.

In 1980, a week after his 6th birthday, Viravuth (“Voot”) Yin immigrated with his mother, grandfather, and three siblings from Cambodia to the United States. Everything they owned fit into a single, 18-inch carry-on bag. They had to build new lives from almost nothing. So, it’s perhaps fitting that Yin studies regeneration, the fascinating ability of some animals, such as salamanders, sea stars, and zebrafish, to regrow damaged body parts, essentially from scratch.

Yin’s path wasn’t always smooth. His family settled in Hartford, Connecticut, near an uncle who had been granted asylum during the Vietnam War. Yin got into a lot of trouble in school, trying to learn a new culture and fit in. Things improved when his mother moved him and his siblings to West Hartford, well known for its strong schools.

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