BioTechniquesVol. 36, No. 3 WebWatchOpen AccessWebWatchKevin AhernKevin AhernSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:6 Jun 2018https://doi.org/10.2144/04363WW01AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Stolen BasesThe chemically changed bases in tRNAs and the splicing out of introns from mRNAs are well-characterized RNA modifications, but lesser known is the phenomenon of “RNA editing.” RNA editing creates progeny mRNAs that differ from the sequence of their parental DNAs by specific removal, insertion, or conversion of nucleotides (mostly uridine or cytidine). Minor changes, seemingly, but editing can, amazingly, produce mRNAs that contain open reading frames where their parental DNAs had none, sometimes inserting dozens of bases that were not encoded in the template gene, while removing yet others. The RNA Editing Web Site provides summaries on seven different types of RNA editing and serves as a dissemination point for researchers.http://www.rna.ucla.edu/index.htmlBlurring Viral BoundariesWhen is a virus not a virus? When it's too small to make the grade—and no, that's not a dumb virologist joke. The recent discovery of mad cow disease on U.S. soil has made the average newspaper reader aware of infectious proteins, but among nucleic acids a relatively obscure group of subviral infectious RNAs is equally fascinating. A visit to the Subviral RNA Database reveals the sequences of over 1450 disease-causing viroids and satellite RNAs, as well as of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV). Described as subviral primarily on the basis of size and lack of their own replication proteins, these unusual RNAs range from 250 to 1700 bases in length. Though most subviral RNAs are plant nuisances, the HDV causes hepatitis D in humans and is fatal in 20% of its victims.http://subviral.med.uottawa.ca/cgi-bin/home.cgiTopical ParasitesIt will come as no surprise to anyone who dreads mowing the lawn that the needs of most plants are minimal—a little water, a bit of sun, and a place to settle, germinate, and grow. What may be an eye opener, however, is an aggressive group of over 3100 species that look not to the good earth to put down roots, but instead to the tissues of fellow botanicals. Welcome to the world of parasitic plants. Heading the list of these herbarious “Klingons” are numerous species of mistletoe and sandalwood that thrive by piggybacking onto a host and literally sucking sustenance from it. Dan Nickrent's Parasite Plant Connection at Southern Illinois University provides an in-depth look at these unusual opportunists, with distribution maps, pictures, and a useful collection of DNA sequences.http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Family PhotosLet's face it. Getting up close and personal with most viruses is best left to professionals. Disease-causing little machines that evolved nanotechnology eons before humans ever existed, viruses are submicroscopic bundles of efficiency and, when viewed in the right light, beauty. The “light” at the Big Picture Book of Viruses is often an electron beam, given the small size of viral particles, but the portraits found in this rogue's gallery are striking, informative, and as aesthetically pleasing as any taken by traditional means. With viruses organized by name, structure, host, and disease, the Big Picture Book of Viruses provides not only an easy way to locate desired images of these cellular nemeses, but also a cornucopia of information relating to their function, architecture, and life cycle.http://www.tulane.edu/∼dmsander/Big_Virology/BVHomePage.htmlStructural IntegrityBuilding a house is akin to synthesizing a protein. Both require a “blueprint” of sorts, a construction crew, energy, and building materials. Builders can use identical bricks, but the ribosomes’ raw materials come in 20 different forms, each able to assume an almost uncountable number of rotational configurations. The Atlas of Protein Side-Chain Interactions attacks the complexity of macromolecular structures by examining peptides at their simplest level—side-chain interactions of each of the 400 possible amino acid pairs. RasMol images culled from high-precision data sets of X-ray crystallographic structures provide the foundation of this informative site.http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/bsm/sidechains/index.htmlFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 36, No. 3 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics Downloaded 143 times History Published online 6 June 2018 Published in print March 2004 Information© 2004 Author(s)PDF download