From egg to embryo: how developing zebrafish keep RNA levels in check

Mature egg cells and early embryos do not generate their own RNA molecules – instead, they rely on stored maternal RNAs to synthesise their proteins. As the embryo develops, some of these RNAs become superfluous and need to be degraded. Researchers at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) pinpointed Ski7 as a regulator of normal RNA levels in early zebrafish embryos. Their findings were published in the journal “PLOS Genetics”.