Discovery of novel small RNAs in the quest to unravel genome complexity

The different RNA populations within the cell, or the ‘RNAome’, form a complex and integral layer of gene regulation. In particular, small non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs have been shown to regulate as much as half of all genes expressed in mammals. The recent discovery of novel small RNAs derived from tRNAs, snoRNAs and Y RNAs, as well as the development of techniques that can reduce sequencing bias of these molecules, is slowly helping us to unveil the secrets of the genome.