A report by a research group led by Chen Jiekai from the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently published in Nature details their discovery of the function of RNA m6A in heterochromatin formation.

Titled “The RNA m6A reader YTHDC1 silences retrotransposons and guards ES cell identity,” the article clarifies the critical role of RNA m6A reader YTHDC1. The study reveals an essential role for RNA m6A and YTHDC1 in chromatin modification and retrotransposon repression.

RNA m6A reader YTHDC1 guards heterochromatin formation. [IMAGE: GUANGZHOU INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTH, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES]

Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences