Hi readers!
Hope you are familiar with the term DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid: a fundamental molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, and reproduction of all known organisms which is structured as a twisting double helix ladder made of sugar, phosphate, and four chemical bases (A, T, C, G) that pair specifically (A-T, C-G) to encode biological information, essentially acting as the body’s blueprint and is double stranded.
RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) on the other hand is polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions either by performing the function itself (non-coding) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). Both are nucleic acids which constitute one of the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. James Watson and Francis Crick are credited for discovering its double helix structure in 1953, for which they shared the Nobel Prize with Maurice Wilkins.
In 1957, Francis and Crick and others explained what they called the “central dogma” of molecular biology which essentially means biological information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins.
DNA holds our genetic blueprints, but RNA, conducts our daily lives. However, while celebrating 180 years of Scientific American, Philip Ball in September 2025 issue of Scientific American, wrote an article titled “How RNA unseated DNA as the most important Molecule in our Body”.
He says, “ the purpose of the double helix in our chromosomes is to hold, in encoded form, blueprints for the proteins that build and maintain our bodies” while DNA’s chemical cousin, RNA, was the messenger that carries DNA instructions from the double helix in the cell’s nucleus to the protein-making machinery: the ribosome, scattered around the cell. Molecular biologists interpreted those genetic instructions.
Recently however, scientists have discovered a confusing array of “noncoding” RNA (ncRNA) molecules that surprisingly perform wide range of biochemical functions which indicated that our genome is probably a repository of plans for vital, noncoding RNA as it is for proteins: a shift in thinking which according to Thomas Cech (who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman for discovering RNA molecules,) is “revolutionary,”. He says, “DNA is old stuff, 20th-century stuff,” It’ is like a person or thing which possess only one special feature or talent as it can only store biological information but it can’t do anything without its children, RNA and proteins.”
RNA is created when an enzyme called RNA polymerase reads a DNA sequence and builds a corresponding RNA molecule: a process known as transcription but, according to Maite Huarte: a molecular biologist at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain; noncoding RNA plays many roles, often involving the regulation of other genes like determining whether protein-coding genes get transcribed to messenger RNA (mRNA)? and how (or if) that molecule is edited and then translated into a protein? If this is so, RNA seems to control how cells use their DNA and turn the central dogma (a one-way street from DNA to mRNA to proteins) into an open system with information flowing in all directions among DNA, proteins, cells and organisms. He further says, ncRNAs don’t belong to just one family of molecules. It is highly versatile, and nature exploits this versatility,” Pl. remember:
RNA is a broad category of nucleic acids, with its main type, messenger RNA (mRNA), acting as a blueprint for protein synthesis. In contrast, non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that does not translate into proteins. While mRNA carries instructions to create proteins, ncRNA acts as a regulator in cellular processes, including gene expression, RNA splicing, and protein synthesis (e.g., tRNA, rRNA, miRNA).
It is known since 1950s that ribosomes contain ribosomal RNA and use transfer RNA to collect amino acids that are stitched together in proteins, but it remained an anomaly for long time. In 1980s, Cech and Altman discovered a new type of ncRNA: ribozymes that cleave and edit themselves and other RNAs and in1990s researchers began to find human ncRNAs that had regulatory functions. For example,
A gene called XIST, involved in the “silencing” of one of the two X chromosomes in the cells of females, encoded not a protein but a long noncoding RNA that appears to wrap around the chromosome and prevent its transcription.
To summaries, it can be easily said that RNA has emerged from being a simple, short-lived messenger to a versatile, central regulator of life, challenging DNA’s traditional status as the “most important” molecule because DNA acts as stable, long-term storage, RNA manages active, dynamic roles, including protein synthesis, gene regulation, catalysis, and direct intervention in diseases, making it crucial for cell function and identity. The discovery of ribozymes demonstrated that RNA could act as an enzyme to catalyze chemical reactions, suggesting it may have been the original molecule of life. Beyond carrying messages, noncoding RNAs regulate gene expression, essentially acting as managers that decide how, when, and if DNA is used?
RNA can fold into complex shapes, allowing it to perform diverse roles similar to proteins, far exceeding the functional capacity of DNA’s double helix. RNA interference (RNAi) provides a mechanism to silence specific genes, offering powerful new ways to target diseases, which was recognized with a Nobel Prize. While DNA remains essential as the information archive, RNA’s active, versatile nature means it acts as the “manager” in the body’s
So dear readers, its RNA and not DNA: the most important molecule. Know it now if you don’t previously.
See you again. Take care, Bye
