Applications of mRNA as Research Tools

Creativebiolabs24 Oct, 2023Technology

Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a type of RNA molecule that can be found in various cells. In general, the structure of mRNA is often composed of a 5' cap, two untranslated regions (5' UTR and 3' UTR), a coding domain, and a 3' poly(A) tail. mRNA can be produced during the process of transcription in the nucleus. Normally, primary transcript mRNA (pre-mRNA) will be created at the early stage of transcription. This pre-mRNA will be further processed into mature mRNA by RNA splicing and removing introns. Mature mRNA can be further transported into the cytoplasm to participate in protein synthesis. Moreover, two main types of RNA molecules, transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), have also been identified that play a critical role in translating codons into amino acids in the protein-manufacturing process.