Anna Marie Pyle | Sep 1, 2010 | 10+ min read
By Anna Marie Pyle TOUCHING RNA RNA can bind and sense the shapes of other molecules by feeling them with its backbone— and not just its bases. What gives RNA molecules this remarkable versatility? Illustrations by Magda Wojtyra he molecular world has always been part of my mental furniture. I grew up on the outskirts of Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, famed for its research on energy, materials, and nuclear weapons. My dad was a