Abstract:

Ribonucleic acids (RNA) are essential biopolymers in biological systems. Initially thought to be an unstable species that acts as a messenger in the flow of genetic information, several key discoveries in the past century have found RNA to contribute to critical functions such as regulation of gene expression and as a catalytic species. Therefore, there is a huge interest in developing tools to further elucidate our understanding of the role of RNA in biological systems, as well as tools to study the structural and functional features of RNA species. This thesis presents my efforts in the development of tools for understanding RNA from three perspectives – tracking expression of RNA in biological systems, probing RNA structure, and discovery of catalytic RNA species.