Scientists say they have formed the most complete picture yet of how the body controls the production of proteins needed to stay healthy.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are tracking the complex interactions between genes that enable proteins to be produced for use in cells.
They are studying tiny strands of genetic code – known as microRNAs – that switch larger genes on and off to regulate the production process.
Four hundred of these strands have been observed in action for the first time using a new tracking technique developed at the university.
Researchers say they have been able to identify which genes are controlled by each microRNA.
Grzegorz Kudla, of the university’s Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, said the study had uncovered a wealth of information about the way microRNAs interact with other genetic material in the body.
He said: “Imagine you are in a small town. You know everybody’s name because you have access to a phonebook, but you also want to know who interacts with whom.
“You can guess – perhaps people living on the same street interact, or you can spend time asking people about their friends. Our experiment amounts to screening footage from the town’s CCTV system to identify pairs of people talking to each other in the street.
“We collected such footage for 18,000 pairs of people – except that in our case, we were looking at 18,000 genes. We already knew that genes often interact with each other, but we didn’t know who interacts with whom. Now we know.”
Scientists say the study accounts for around 40 per cent of the 1,000 different microRNAs active in the human body, many of which had not been investigated before.
The research, published in the journal Cell, is also the first to describe the distinguishing traits of a large number of microRNAs in one go.
Lead researcher David Tollervey, of the university’s School of Biological Sciences, said the study gives scientists a rule book for how individual genes are controlled and will also help in the understanding of a range of diseases caused when the regulation process goes wrong.
MicroRNAs have been linked to the development of some types of cancer, heart disease and obesity.
Kudla said: “To continue the analogy of the town, you can learn about people by knowing with whom they talk.
“Perhaps you can use the information to improve the town’s safety in the future.”