The Moss Lab: Unlocking the Secrets of RNA
RNA is one of life's most fundamental molecules, but much of its function remains a mystery. While we know that some RNAs, like messenger RNA (mRNA), carry the instructions for making proteins, the vast majority of RNA in our cells—sometimes called transcriptional "dark matter"—has an unknown purpose. Yet, we know this "dark matter" is crucial, as its deregulation is linked to a variety of diseases, such as cancer.
The central goal of the Moss Lab is to solve this mystery. We are a team of bioinformaticians, biochemists, and biologists working to understand the fascinating world of RNA. Our research is based on a key principle: an RNA molecule's function is determined by its unique shape. Just as a key's specific shape allows it to fit into a lock, an RNA's folded structure dictates how it interacts with other molecules and performs its job in the cell.
Our mission is to find the functional, structured RNAs hidden within genomes, figure out their shapes, and ultimately, discover what they do. We call this a holistic approach, combining three key disciplines:
Bioinformatics: We use powerful computational tools and algorithms to scan entire genomes for RNA sequences that are likely to fold into specific, stable structures. This helps us generate hypotheses about which RNAs might be important.
Biochemistry: Computer models are a great starting point, but they aren't perfect. We use cutting-edge biochemical techniques to "probe" the physical shape of RNAs in the lab. This allows us to validate our predictions and get a more accurate picture of their actual structure.
Biology: Once we find a structured RNA and understand its shape, we use a wide range of modern biological tools (like RNA-Seq and CRISPR) to figure out its role in the cell. Does it affect gene expression? Does it interact with proteins? Answering these questions helps us connect structure directly to function.
Current Projects
Our research is currently focused on three major areas:
Developing new methods for RNA discovery: We're building new pipelines, like the ScanFold tool, to find functional, structured RNAs in long sequences or entire genomes. These methods are proving to be powerful starting points for advancing our understanding of biology and developing new therapies.
Studying structured RNAs in human health: We apply our methods to uncover important functional elements within human genes. For example, we're currently investigating the significance of structured RNAs in a variety of disease-associated human genes.
Investigating structured RNAs in pathogens: We are applying our approaches to discover new structured RNA targets in dangerous pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, HIV, and Zika, among others.