A Short Discussion about the Name iRNA:
The first and primary reason why I chose to name this blog iRNA is because I thought it was a cool-sounding name. Not only is RNA a biological molecule (already cool), but I put an "i" in front of it, automatically increasing it's coolness according to the Principle of Apple Products.
But my choice of RNA for a title was deliberate, and I thought it was worth discussing because the meaning behind the name of this blog is related to the mission/goals that I have for this blog. If you have had any introductory biology (if you understand the central dogma of biology) please skip to paragraph 4!
The central dogma biology of describes the fundamental basis of all molecular biological study: DNA is transcribed to RNA which is translated into protein. Essentially, DNA provides the raw data of life, which through the process of transcription is copied into RNA. The RNA then serves (in most cases) as a messenger, communicating the important parts of DNA to these giant globs in the cell called ribosomes. Ribosomes essentially "read" the RNA and, depending on what the RNA says, they construct different sorts of proteins. Proteins are the chemicals that perform 99% of the duties within an organism, providing everything from fundamental structural properties to a way for cells to obtain energy from the environment. To simplify this idea, we can think of the central dogma like a 3rd grade book report (remember those???): DNA is like the book that we are assigned for the report by our teacher; we read the book (the DNA) and summarized it, picking out the most important or most interesting parts of the book (summary=RNA); then by presenting our summary to the class and to the teacher, we are attempting to teach the class something, and hopefully our classmates learn something from our presentation that they apply to their daily life, the physical manifestation of which can be compared to a protein (I know..... it's a stretch). See the figure below if you are still confused:
But my choice of RNA for a title was deliberate, and I thought it was worth discussing because the meaning behind the name of this blog is related to the mission/goals that I have for this blog. If you have had any introductory biology (if you understand the central dogma of biology) please skip to paragraph 4!
The central dogma biology of describes the fundamental basis of all molecular biological study: DNA is transcribed to RNA which is translated into protein. Essentially, DNA provides the raw data of life, which through the process of transcription is copied into RNA. The RNA then serves (in most cases) as a messenger, communicating the important parts of DNA to these giant globs in the cell called ribosomes. Ribosomes essentially "read" the RNA and, depending on what the RNA says, they construct different sorts of proteins. Proteins are the chemicals that perform 99% of the duties within an organism, providing everything from fundamental structural properties to a way for cells to obtain energy from the environment. To simplify this idea, we can think of the central dogma like a 3rd grade book report (remember those???): DNA is like the book that we are assigned for the report by our teacher; we read the book (the DNA) and summarized it, picking out the most important or most interesting parts of the book (summary=RNA); then by presenting our summary to the class and to the teacher, we are attempting to teach the class something, and hopefully our classmates learn something from our presentation that they apply to their daily life, the physical manifestation of which can be compared to a protein (I know..... it's a stretch). See the figure below if you are still confused:
[Paragraph 4 for those biologists out there!] So now for the reason why I chose to name this blog after RNA. I thought it might be interesting to name the blog after a biological molecule. Of course, I initially thought of DNA. I was also considering "protein" and the "transforming principle" (not a biological molecule, but a rather important IDEA that is the basis of all we know about molecular biology today, read more here). I decided that to name my blog after protein would be rather inappropriate: protein is the physical expression of information at the most simplified level of biology. I thought that since this blog is not physical in any way (it is not even written on paper for the most part), protein would not fit. Also, it doesn't sound all that cool, "iProtein".... *eew*. I then thought of DNA, the informational basis of biology. Initially, it sound perfect: this blog is presenting information, therefore, it seems to be analogous to DNA. Additionally, "iDNA" has a cool, new-age, technological/biological ring to it. But then I figured that DNA is rather authoritative and extensive; it assumes a permanent and comprehensive source of information which this blog obviously isn't. This blog is all about opinion and feelings, not about raw data.
RNA, I found, is rather perfect. Symbolically, most RNAs are "messengers" within the cell. RNAs basically summarize part of the information contained in DNA, picking out the most intriguing pieces and omitting things that appear unimportant. Essentially that is what this blog is all about. I am looking to the primary and secondary literature (books and journal articles), picking out the interesting pieces (what might be considered the "coding sequence" or "exon" in the DNA), or at least pieces that I find interesting, and then presenting those pieces of information to you in some way. You, then, might be considered the ribosome. Ribosomes are not required to "accept" an RNA molecule, they are able to reject it if it does not look interesting to them, but if the ribosome has some interest in the RNA, then it will bind to it and synthesize a protein that is based on the information contained within.
I decided against "transforming principle" mostly because the transforming principle was such an important step in the history of molecular biology, and I thought it was a little too intense. So iRNA it is!
Thanks for reading!
*image from http://www.bioinformatics.nl/webportal/background/translationinfo.html
RNA, I found, is rather perfect. Symbolically, most RNAs are "messengers" within the cell. RNAs basically summarize part of the information contained in DNA, picking out the most intriguing pieces and omitting things that appear unimportant. Essentially that is what this blog is all about. I am looking to the primary and secondary literature (books and journal articles), picking out the interesting pieces (what might be considered the "coding sequence" or "exon" in the DNA), or at least pieces that I find interesting, and then presenting those pieces of information to you in some way. You, then, might be considered the ribosome. Ribosomes are not required to "accept" an RNA molecule, they are able to reject it if it does not look interesting to them, but if the ribosome has some interest in the RNA, then it will bind to it and synthesize a protein that is based on the information contained within.
I decided against "transforming principle" mostly because the transforming principle was such an important step in the history of molecular biology, and I thought it was a little too intense. So iRNA it is!
Thanks for reading!
*image from http://www.bioinformatics.nl/webportal/background/translationinfo.html