Tag: ryanschildcrout

Live Blogger: Ryan Schildcrout
Editor: Madison Fitzgerald

This piece was written live during the 8th annual RNA Symposium, “Unmasking the Power of RNA: From Structure to Medicine” hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

When we think of “DNA,” we normally think about genes that encode proteins. However, the vast majority of the human genome is thought to be “non-coding,” in that the DNA does not encode proteins. Non-coding DNA has been long thought of as biologically inert, but in the last few decades, scientists have started exploring its purpose. Since then, it has been recognized to be a key element in regulating gene expression. Within those non-coding regions exist millions of Short Tandem Repeats, or  microsatellites, which are repetitive DNA sequences of up to 6 base pairs. The number of repeats within a microsatellite can vary drastically across the genome. We know very little about the function of these microsatellites because next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are unable to sequence highly repetitive regions of DNA. Some of these repeats have been linked to neurological disorders such as Autism, ALS, and dementia, thus highlighting the need to study the mechanisms by which they cause disease. Dr. Peter Todd from the University of Michigan has recently uncovered some of these mechanisms in context with neurological diseases.