The past decade has seen a major increase in the study of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). However, there remains a great deal of confusion and debate over the levels of functionality and mechanisms of action of the majority of these new transcripts. This Opinion article addresses several of these issues, focusing particularly on long ncRNAs (lncRNAs). We reemphasize the unique abilities of RNAs to form myriad structures as well as to interact with other RNAs, DNA, and proteins, which provide them with unique and powerful abilities. One of these, the ability to interact sequence specifically with DNA, has been largely overlooked. Accumulating evidence suggests that evolution has taken advantage of RNA’s properties via the rapid acquisition of new noncoding genes in testes, with subsequent gains of function in other tissues. This amplification process appears to be one of the major forces driving metazoan evolution and diversity.

在过去的十年中，非编码RNA（ncRNA）的研究有了很大的增长。但是，对于大多数这些新成绩单的功能和作用机制的水平，仍然存在很多困惑和争论。这篇意见文章解决了其中一些问题，特别关注长ncRNA（lncRNA）。我们强调了RNA形成无数结构以及与其他RNA，DNA和蛋白质相互作用的独特能力，从而为它们提供了独特而强大的能力。其中之一，即与DNA特异性相互作用的能力，在很大程度上被忽视了。越来越多的证据表明，进化已通过迅速获取睾丸中新的非编码基因来利用RNA的特性，随后在其他组织中获得了功能。