The central dogma of molecular biology is that DNA is transcribed into RNA, which is then translated into proteins. DNA and proteins have received a great deal of attention due to their respective roles as the encoding of life and the molecular machines that make life work. RNA, however, has been viewed as more of a molecular post-it note that simply passes information between its more interesting counterparts. Recent work, however, has demonstrated that RMA molecules also play important functional roles similar to proteins. Thus, we have taken an interest in understanding their folding as well.
The objective of these projects is to gain a systematic understanding of RNA folding starting with small hairpin motiffs. A hairpin is just a single strand of RNA folded back on itself but plays some surprisingly interesting roles in biological systems.
To understand these hairpins we have implemented a new sampling algorithm. Projects 4400-4432 constituted the first phase of this new sampling algorithm. Projects 4433-4499 are the next phase, which we are beginning to role out now.
STATSCREDIT 225
TIMEOUT_OPR 43 days
DEADLINE_TIME 63 days
Introducing project 44XX
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