Ask a friend what DNA is and, chances are, they have a general idea.
Seventy years after scientists discovered the two-stranded helix, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is widely understood as the keeper of our genetic information and a window into our ancestry. It has become a household word.
Not so with RNA.
“RNA was never the star of the show,” writes Tom Cech, a distinguished professor of biochemistry at CU Boulder who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989 for his research on RNA. “It was like a biochemical backup singer slaving away in the shadows of the diva.”
As Cech reveals in his new book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” RNA (ribonucleic acid) is having its moment, with research surging globally and more than 400 RNA-based drugs in development.