RNA polymerase II transcription on the fast lane.

Laboratory of Molecular Virology, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy. marcello@icgeb.org

Transcription 2012 Jan-Feb

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Transcription by RNA polymerase II is the process that copies DNA into RNA leading to the expression of a specific gene. Averaged estimates of polymerase elongation rates in mammalian cells have been shown to vary between 1 and 4 kilobases per minute. However, recent advances in live cell imaging allowed direct measurements of RNA biogenesis from a single gene exceeded 50 kb·min(-1) . This unexpected finding opens novel and intriguing perspectives on the control of metazoan transcription.