Jump to main content

Catalytic RNA and Structure

1
2
3
4
5
103 reviews

Summary

Areas of Science
Difficulty
 
Time Required
Very Long (1+ months)
Prerequisites
Advanced biology course, or willingness to read up on such topics extensively.
Material Availability
A computer with Internet access is necessary for this project.
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
No issues
*Note: For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.

If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.

Abstract

Some sequences of RNA can catalyze biochemical reactions, much like protein enzymes. These catalytic RNA sequences are called ribozymes. The function of a ribozyme depends upon the primary sequence of the RNA which folds into a 3-D structure. How do different ribozyme sequences fold? You can search for ribozyme sequences using Entrez BLAST (NCBI, 2006). Then you can use a program like MFOLD (http://bioweb.pasteur.fr/seqanal/interfaces/mfold-simple.html) to submit your sequence for an analysis of its predicted 3-D structures based upon thermodynamics (Zuker, 2006; Zuker, 2003). Compare the different predicted structures and see if they are similar or different. If possible, compare the predicted structures to a published crystal structure. How close was the predicted structure to the crystal structure? Can you identify primary sequence elements in your molecule that contribute to parts of the structure? For example, palindromic stretches can form stem-loop structures. You can also mutate the sequence and submit the new sequence to MFOLD. How does this alter the 3-D structure? Can you use this computational method to identify potentially important nucleotides?

Bibliography

National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2006). Entrez PubMed. Retrieved March 25, 2006, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db.
icon scientific method

Ask an Expert

Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Global Connections

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

This project explores topics key to Good Health and Well-Being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Careers

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Career Profile
The human body can be viewed as a machine made up of complex processes. Scientists are working on figuring out how these processes work and on sequencing and correlating the sections of the genome that correspond to the individual processes. (The genome is an organism's complete set of genetic material.) In the course of doing so, they generate large amounts of data. So large, in fact, that to make sense of it, the data must be organized into databases and labeled. This is where bioinformatics… Read more
Career Profile
Growing, aging, digesting—all of these are examples of chemical processes performed by living organisms. Biochemists study how these types of chemical actions happen in cells and tissues, and monitor what effects new substances, like food additives and medicines, have on living organisms. Read more
Career Profile
When a patient gets sick, his or her doctor will take sample cells from the affected part of his or her body and send them to a lab for testing to figure out what is wrong. This is where the cytotechnologist steps in. The cytotechnologist will take the sample cells, make slides from them, and examine the slides under a microscope. Cytotechnologists are trained to detect abnormalities in cells that come from all body sites in order to to make a diagnosis of cancer or other diseases. These… Read more

News Feed on This Topic

 
, ,

Cite This Page

General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "Catalytic RNA and Structure." Science Buddies, 20 Nov. 2020, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/BioChem_p023/biotechnology-techniques/catalytic-rna-and-structure. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2020, November 20). Catalytic RNA and Structure. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/BioChem_p023/biotechnology-techniques/catalytic-rna-and-structure


Last edit date: 2020-11-20
Top
We use cookies and those of third party providers to deliver the best possible web experience and to compile statistics.
By continuing and using the site, including the landing page, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
OK, got it
Free science fair projects.