RNA Chemistry for RNA Biology

Abstract

Advances in the chemical synthesis of RNA have opened new possibilities to address current questions in RNA biology. Access to site-specifically modified oligoribonucleotides is often a pre-requisite for RNA chemical-biology projects. Driven by the enormous research efforts for development of oligonucleotide therapeutics, a wide range of chemical modifications have been developed to modulate the intrinsic properties of nucleic acids in order to fit their use as therapeutics or research tools. The RNA synthesis platform, supported by the NCCR RNA & Disease, aims to provide access to a large variety of chemically modified nucleic acids. In this review, we describe some of the recent projects that involved work of the platform and highlight how RNA chemistry supports new discoveries in RNA biology.