Last Wednesday, August 1, the international RNA day was celebrated, this being its third year. The date chosen is especially relevant since, in English, it is “AUG 1 °” and AUG is the first biological marker of RNA, and indicates the beginning of the information carried by the molecule. The date was suggested by Juan Pablo Tosar, a Uruguayan researcher who participated, along with other exhibitors, in the celebrations held at the Pasteur Institute.
Before a crowded room, mainly of adolescents, Juan Pablo began the day by telling an anecdote: how, via Twitter, the date proposed by himself to celebrate this day was selected by the scientific community.
The RNA Society publicly raised in 2018 whether there should be a world RNA day. Then, Tosar replied on Twitter that it could be August 1 (AUG 1 -in English-), an acronym that refers to the start codon of the RNA chain: adenine, uracil, guanine.
89% of the votes were in favor of his answer, so that date became the chosen one.
What is RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule similar to DNA. Unlike DNA, RNA is single-stranded. An RNA strand has a backbone consisting of a sugar (ribose) and phosphate groups alternately. Attached to each sugar is one of the four bases adenine (A), uracil (U), cytosine (C) or guanine (G). There are different types of RNA in the cell: messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA). More recently, some small RNAs have been found to be involved in the regulation of gene expression.
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a nucleic acid similar in structure to DNA but with some subtle differences. The cell uses RNA for a number of different tasks; one of these molecules is called messenger RNA or mRNA. Y is the nucleic acid molecule whose translation transfers information from the genome to proteins. Another form of RNA is tRNA or transfer RNA, and non-coding protein RNA molecules that physically carry amino acids to the site where translation takes place and allow them to be assembled into protein chains in the process.
ARN vs Covid
Two of the most effective vaccines against covid are based on a compound without which life on Earth could not exist. Its approval may usher in a new era of universal cancer, rare disease and vaccine treatments.
Inside each and every person there is an RNA molecule. Two vaccines against the new coronavirus that have shown greater efficacy to date are based on this molecule, specifically on a subtype known as messenger RNA. His job is to transmit the message of life contained in DNA and convert it into all the proteins that allow us to breathe, think, move, live. This molecule is so fundamental that it is thought that life on Earth could have started with it more than 3,000 million years ago.
Now it is one of the favorites to start pulling the entire population of the planet out of the worst pandemic of the 21st century.
Born and raised in Brussels in an English family, I have always lived in a multicultural environment. After several work experiences in marketing and communication, I came to Smart Water Magazine, which I describe as the most exciting challenge of my career.
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