RNA

Importantly they also discovered all five nitrogenous bases — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil — that are necessary to build DNA and RNA.

Amino acids, which make up proteins, or nucleotides, which make up DNA and RNA, are the same way.

"MiRNAs are small RNA molecules that do not encode proteins like most genes do, yet they play essential roles in gene regulation by repressing the expression of target genes," added Dr Tian.

The researchers were able to map out the composition, organisation and function of neurons within the heart using a combination of methods such as single-cell RNA sequencing, anatomical studies and electrophysiological techniques.

Now, a team of international scientists, including University of Michigan researchers, have used advanced microscopy to image how ribosomes recruit to mRNA while it's being transcribed by an enzyme called RNA polymerase, or RNAP.