Cancers are the result of faulty cellular metabolism. Messenger RNA and the proteins that bind to it are fundamental to many aspects of the metabolism of cells.

Some RNA binding proteins ensure that little of the RNA transcribed from a particular gene is used as a template for making proteins. Other binding proteins promote RNA transcribed from a particular gene. These processes can lead to too much or too little of particular proteins, triggering the uncontrolled cell growth that is cancer.

The Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit is a joint venture between the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg and EMBL. Part of their research looks at the role of messenger RNA and binding proteins in causing disease.

Only a small number of genes in a cell are transcribed into RNA to be expressed as proteins. The form and function of cells is driven by proteins, so identifying the corresponding RNA is key to understanding cellular mechanisms in healthy and diseased cells.

Even relatively small tissue samples contain many cells of different types and with varying proteins expressed. Data from such samples gives an idea of the range of RNA present in a mix of cells. Scientists are now able to isolate a single cell in a sample and identify the strands of RNA within it, providing a snapshot of the gene expression of the cell. This can for example tell us how a particular cancer cell operates differently from adjacent cells.

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) provides a portal to thousands of single cell gene expression experiments.

Scientists are keen to understand how the complex, responsive and self-correcting mechanisms of DNA reproduction, transcription into RNA and translation into proteins came about. It seems likely that the various molecules and processes involved evolved from earlier, simpler forms. Some scientists have discussed the idea that the earliest form of life on Earth was RNA molecules reproducing themselves. Only millions of years later DNA evolved, with RNA playing several roles in reproducing DNA and translating sections of it into proteins.