TRANSLATING DNA into proteins may be an even more complex business than anyone thought.
In the conventional picture, only one of the twin strands that make up the DNA double helix – the so-called “sense” strand – is copied into a single strand of messenger RNA (mRNA). This then acts as the template for a protein. Now an exhaustive survey of RNA production has revealed that in almost three-quarters of mammalian genes, the other, “antisense” strand is copied too and may participate in many, perhaps all, cell functions.
Antisense RNA had already been found and was thought to inhibit gene transcription…
