RNA Microchips

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is, along with DNA and protein, one of the three primary biological macromolecules and was probably the first to arise in early life forms. In the "RNA world" hypothesis, RNA is able to support life on its own because it can both store information and catalyze biochemical reactions. Even in modern life, the most complex molecular machines in all cells, the ribosomes, are made largely of RNA. Chemists at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna and at McGill University have developed a new synthetic approach that allows RNA to be chemically synthesized about a million times more efficiently than previously possible. RNA is ubiquitous in cells. It is responsible for shuttling information out of the nucleus, regulating gene expression and synthesizing proteins. Some RNA molecules, particularly in bacteria, also catalyze biochemical reactions and sense environmental signals. The chemical synthesis of DNA and RNA goes back to the early days of molecular biology, particularly the efforts by Nobel Laureate Har Gobind Khorana in the early 1960s to decipher the genetic code. Over the years, the chemistry has improved considerably but RNA synthesis has remained much more difficult and slow due to the need for an additional protecting group on the 2'-hydroxy of the ribose sugar of RNA. Chemists at Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna and at McGill University have now been able to bring RNA synthesis a large step forward. Semiconductor technology and synthesis