New videos show RNA as it's never been seen - EurekAlert

First-ever data-driven videos illuminate RNA's mysterious folding process.

VIDEO: New videos show RNA folding as its made by cellular machinery.

Data -- collected from RNA experiments in the lab -- were inputted into computer models to generate accurate videos...

"RNA folding is a dynamic process that is fundamental for life," said Northwestern's Julius B.

Using data from RNA-folding experiments, the researchers generated the first-ever data-driven movies of how RNA folds as it is made by cellular machinery.

"Folding takes place in your body more than 10 quadrillion times a second," Lucks said.

Although videos of RNA folding do exist, the computer models that generate them are full of approximations and assumptions.

Lucks' team has developed a technology platform that captures data about RNA folding as the RNA is being made.

Angela Yu, a former student of Lucks, inputted this data into computer models to generate accurate videos of the folding process.

"The information that we give the algorithms helps the computer models correct themselves," Lucks said.

The study, "Computationally reconstructing cotranscriptional RNA folding pathways from experimental data reveals rearrangement of non-native folding intermediates," was supported by the National Institutes of Health (award numbers T32GM083937, 1DP2GM110838 and GM120582), the National Science Foundation (award numbers MCB1651877 and 1914567) and the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust