Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 153A, 153B, Life Sciences 3 and 23L, or 7A. Recent years have seen explosion in biochemical characterization of diverse structures and functions of RNA molecules in metabolism of living systems. RNA has been shown to act both as catalyst in living systems and as potent modulator of gene expression control at every level of gene expression pathways (transcription, RNA processing, translation, degradation). RNA molecules now being used as therapeutic agents in gene therapy approaches. Coverage of these various aspects and in-depth analysis of RNA structure and function, using primary research literature and analysis of molecular structures of RNA and RNA-protein complexes. Letter grading.

Units: 4.0