Uncovering Functions of Circular RNAs

Recent research has revealed many surprises about circular RNAs, from findings that they are translated in vivo to links between their expression and disease.

Written byCatherine Offord

| 13 min read

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RNA comes in many shapes and sizes. Over the past few decades, researchers have characterized at least two dozen different RNA varieties beyond the textbook classics. But a type of RNA that long flew under the radar due to its designation as a molecular mishap is now taking center stage.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), or simply “circles” to many researchers, are just what they sound like: nucleotides of RNA arranged in a closed loop. Much about the function of these molecules remains a mystery, but for some time, at least one thing seemed clear: unlike linear messenger RNA (mRNA), circles were not translated into proteins in living organisms. “When you have any type of RNA, you wonder whether it’s translated,” says Sebastian Kadener, a molecular biologist ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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