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Published online 27 August 2008 | Nature 454, 1042-1045 (2008) | doi:10.1038/4541042a

News Feature

Genetics: The production line

If more than 90% of the genome is 'junk' then why do cells make so much RNA from it? Anna Petherick goes in search of some answers.

Anna Petherick

HOTAIR is a molecule with a future. Created from a DNA sequence on human chromosome 12, it affects genes on chromosome 2, apparently working as part of the system that enables skin cells to tell where on the body's surface they are, and thus what they should be doing.

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  • Although, it was wonderful to see Nature’s piece highlighted this exciting field, there are many people who have played integral roles that were not mentioned. The success of this field is a testament to this rich community and its spirit of teamwork and collaboration. In particular, there are several key people, with out whom HOTAIR would have never been discovered. Most importantly, Howard Chang my postdoctoral advisor (not labmate as stated in the article) and his graduate student Jordon Wang at Stanford University where HOTAIR was discovered. Moreover, our integral collaboration with Eran Segal and Michael Kertesz at the Weizmann Institute and Peggy Farnham and Sharon Squazzo at University of California, Davis. Similarly our recent work to find a new class of long non-coding RNAs is an exciting collaboration with Eric Lander and his incredibly talented graduate student Mitchell Guttman, and the great community at the Broad Institute. Sincerely, John Rinn

    • 27 Aug, 2008
    • Posted by: John Rinn