Recent studies increasingly point to the role of translation in the production of endogenous siRNAs from so-called noncoding transcripts, according to Professor Chen Xuemei, a renowned molecular biologist, in the latest installment of the City University Distinguished Lecture Series on 19 December.

In her lecture, titled “Biogenesis and activities of plant microRNAs – the ‘where’ and ‘how’”, Professor Chen said the association of membranes and membrane-bound polysomes (MBPs) affects the ability of miRNAs to trigger the production of secondary siRNAs from the transcripts.

Professor Chen is Professor of Plant Cell and Molecular Biology in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. She is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.