Eddy S R
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Nat Rev Genet. 2001 Dec;2(12):919-29. doi: 10.1038/35103511.
Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes produce functional RNA molecules rather than encoding proteins. However, almost all means of gene identification assume that genes encode proteins, so even in the era of complete genome sequences, ncRNA genes have been effectively invisible. Recently, several different systematic screens have identified a surprisingly large number of new ncRNA genes. Non-coding RNAs seem to be particularly abundant in roles that require highly specific nucleic acid recognition without complex catalysis, such as in directing post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression or in guiding RNA modifications.
非编码RNA（ncRNA）基因产生功能性RNA分子，而不是编码蛋白质。然而，几乎所有的基因识别方法都假定基因编码蛋白质，因此即使在全基因组序列时代，ncRNA基因实际上也一直未被发现。最近，几种不同的系统筛选方法已经鉴定出数量惊人的新ncRNA基因。非编码RNA似乎在需要高度特异性核酸识别而无需复杂催化的作用中特别丰富，例如在指导基因表达的转录后调控或引导RNA修饰方面。
