Opposing forces in cells could hold clues to treating disease

A newly revealed molecular tug-of-war may have implications for better understanding how a multitude of diseases and disorders—including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and immune disorders—originate, as well as how to potentially treat them, according to researchers at Penn State. The team made the finding in a study of cellular messengers called mRNAs that carry the DNA blueprints needed to make proteins, the building blocks of life that keep cells functioning.