title: MicroRNAs and the Operon paper.
abstract: The "Operon paper" by F. Jacob and J. Monod started 50 years of research into understanding how the expression of genes is regulated on a molecular level. Ten years ago, microRNAs (miRNAs) emerged as major regulators of eukaryotic gene expression. Here, I will review the basic principles of gene regulation by miRNAs and how these principles can be linked to insights from the Operon paper. A lot of what is understood about miRNAs required a combination of computational and experimental methods. I will discuss some examples that illustrate the power of this approach.
authors.affiliation: Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert Roessle Str. 10, 13125 Berlin-Buch, Germany. rajewsky@mdc-berlin.de
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rajewsky
mesh_terms: D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D009876:Operon
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs