Then along came RNA editing, in which guide RNAs or enzyme action modify some messenger RNAs such that the final protein sequence cannot be deduced from the gene sequence alone.

Rathore used a new technique, called RNA interference, to construct a genetic sequence that blocked the gossypol-producing enzyme in the seeds only.

The team created a micro-RNA that appears to be essential to the creation of red blood cells in both zebrafish and in mice by using a different enzyme called Argonaute 2.