MicroRNAs abound

Credit: Adapted from Nature Genetics" /> Credit: Adapted from Nature Genetics The paper: I. Bentwich et al., "Identification of hundreds of conserved and nonconserved human microRNAs," Nat Gen , 37:766-70, 2005. (Cited in 148 papers) [PUBMED] The finding: Isaac Bentwich and colleagues at Rosetta Genomics upped the number of sequenced human microRNAs using a new technique integrating bioinform

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The paper:

I. Bentwich et al., "Identification of hundreds of conserved and nonconserved human microRNAs," Nat Gen , 37:766-70, 2005. (Cited in 148 papers) [PUBMED]

The finding:

Isaac Bentwich and colleagues at Rosetta Genomics upped the number of sequenced human microRNAs using a new technique integrating bioinformatic predictions with microarray analysis, cloning, and sequencing. Of the 89 new human microRNAs sequenced, 53 are unique to primates, lending credence to the suggestion that the short segments may be what Bentwich calls, "the switches that drive evolution."

The new tool:

Bentwich says that using computers to comb genomes for microRNAs was a relatively new approach when his group began the project in 2000. "Biologists were used to using lab coats and plastic tubes as their mainstays for finding genes," he says.

The impact:

"Our work sort of broke the sound barrier of a previous notion that stated that the number [of vertebrate ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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