Bazak, L. et al. Genome Res. doi:10.1101/gr.164749.113 (17 December 2013).

According to the central dogma of molecular biology, information flows from DNA to RNA to protein; but in some instances, such as RNA editing, genomically encoded information can be altered. During A-to-I editing, adenosine deaminases convert adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA, which is subsequently read as a guanosine. A-to-I editing in primates occurs mostly in Alu sequences, which make up about 10% of the human genome and are frequent in gene-rich regions. A comprehensive profiling approach of A-to-I sites by Bazak et al. showed that all adenosines in Alu repeats that form double-stranded RNA are edited at low levels per site. The next step will be to explore the function of these variations in the human transcriptome.