Since the 1930s, when RNA was recognized as chemically distinct from DNA, scientists have known of the diversity of RNA molecules. What they could not have fathomed at the time, however, is the variety of roles, both informational and structural, that RNA plays in biology: from protein expression and regulation to chromatin remodeling and epigenetic modification. Over the past two decades, physician-scientist Howard Y. Chang has helped enrich the RNA canon. He has discovered long sequences of RNA that do not code for proteins but instead modulate DNA accessibility. He has also helped develop next-generation sequencing methods that leverage his knowledge of the interactions between DNA, RNA, and proteins. In his Inaugural Article (1), Chang, who was elected to the National Academies of Sciences in 2020 and is a professor of dermatology and of genetics at Stanford University, describes the development of BABEL, a system that uses advanced computational techniques to translate between sets of sequencing data, down to single-cell resolution. The work provides further insights into the mechanisms of DNA regulation and protein expression and may aid the development of therapeutics for diseases such as cancer.

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Howard Y. Chang 简介 [简介]

自 1930 年代以来，当 RNA 被认为在化学上与 DNA 不同时，科学家们就知道 RNA 分子的多样性。然而，他们当时无法理解的是，RNA 在生物学中所扮演的各种角色，包括信息和结构，从蛋白质表达和调控到染色质重塑和表观遗传修饰。在过去的二十年里，医生兼科学家 Howard Y. Chang 帮助丰富了 RNA 标准。他发现了不编码蛋白质而是调节 DNA 可及性的长 RNA 序列。他还利用他对 DNA、RNA 和蛋白质之间相互作用的知识帮助开发了下一代测序方法。在他的就职文章 ( 1), Chang, who was elected to the National Academies of Sciences in 2020 and is a professor of dermatology and of genetics at Stanford University, describes the development of BABEL, a system that uses advanced computational techniques to translate between sets of sequencing data, down到单细胞分辨率。这项工作提供了对 DNA 调控和蛋白质表达机制的进一步见解，并可能有助于开发癌症等疾病的治疗方法。