RNA – all set to become a superstar

2005 Ernst Schering Prize awarded to RNA researcher Thomas Tuschl

For many years, ribonucleic acids (RNA) were considered to be of little interest. Yet in the meantime these chemical relatives of DNA are enjoying a boom within the research community. It is now obvious that their tasks within the organism are more varied than was originally thought. A more precise understanding of the role of RNA in the cell could even provide a novel approach to new therapies. And with his work, Thomas Tuschl has significantly influenced this field.

For a long time, the main task of ribonucleic acids was considered to be transporting the genetic information about individual proteins from the cell nucleus to the site of protein synthesis – as a copy of parts of the DNA. Nowadays we know that particular RNA molecules can even prevent this process occurring. This is called RNA interference, when one RNA captures another one, rendering it inactive and so preventing gene expression. Thomas Tuschl was the first to demonstrate that this mechanism also works in human cells. "This was the first time researchers had a simple means to switch off any particular gene," he explains.

Within just a few years, RNA interference has become a routine tool in the laboratory. In this way, researchers switch off individual genes to see what function they have. Furthermore, they are investigating a therapeutic benefit of this process, for example, attempting to use the mechanism of RNA interference to target those genes that are falsely activated and thus lead to disease.

For over two years now, Thomas Tuschl, a former researcher at the Max Planck Society, has been working at the Rockefeller University in New York City. In the meantime, so-called microRNAs are the focus of his research. These are RNA snippets formed by the cells themselves which ensure the body's own RNA interference. Researchers have since discovered some 500 microRNAs in human cells. "We now believe that the RNA interference caused by microRNAs is actually one of the most important mechanisms in gene expression," says Thomas Tuschl.

Furthermore, researchers have initial indications that certain diseases are connected to a disturbed microRNA pattern. Tuschl comments further: "For example, the concentration of individual RNAs in the cells of certain tumors is noticeably high. This offers a completely new approach to fighting cancer."

The Ernst Schering Prize is awarded annually to an internationally renowned scientist for outstanding achievements in the fields of biology, medicine or chemistry. Set up in 1991 by the Ernst Schering Research Foundation, the Prize was first awarded in 1992 to Peter H. Seeburg. Other prize holders since then were Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Bert Vogelstein, Yasutomi Nishizuka, Judah Folkman, Johann Mulzer, Ilme Schlichting, Michael J. Berridge, Takao Shimizu, Kyriacos C. Nicolaou, Ian Wilmut, Svante Pääbo and Ronald McKay. Since 2003 the Ernst Schering Prize has been awarded by the Ernst Schering Foundation, a charitable institution promoting science and culture from its headquarters in Berlin.

Further information available from: www.scheringstiftung.de