Highly specific RNA enzymes synthesized

Abstract

The molecular components responsible for the catalytic activity inherent in some naturally occurring ribonucleic acids have been determined and subsequently incorporated into synthetic RNA enzymes that catalyze with high specificity the cleavage of target RNA molecules [ Nature , 334 ,585 (1988)]. The synthetic enzymes were produced by Jim Haseloff and Wayne L. Gerlach, scientists with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization in Canberra. Haseloff and Gerlach call the RNA enzymes and suggest that they could find application in the manipulation of RNA molecules, either to produce large amounts of particular RNA fragments or as a means of physically mapping RNAs. The researchers point out that another potential application of ribozymes is the in-vivo cleavage and inactivation of target messenger RNA molecules. DNA that encodes a ribozyme targeted against a particular mRNA transcript could be introduced into the genome of a bacterium, plant, or animal using establish...