Why do scientists want to remind you that RNA is more than just part of the COVID vaccine?

It's in all of the food that we eat, it's in every living being that we encounter on our planet.

It's Monday, June 10th, and you're listening to Science Friday. I'm Cyfry producer D. Petersburg.

We've all heard of DNA the genetic blueprint of life, but off to the site is RNA, DNA's

lesser-known counterpart, which helps actually implement those blueprints in our bodies.

DNA's gotten most of the spotlight over the past half century, but that's changed in the last few years,

thanks to the success of the MRNA-based COVID vaccines,

and it's led to a renewed interest in the potential medical applications for this tiny molecular

powerhouse.

Here's our Florida with a scientist who sees a bright future for RNA research.

Here to tell us how we got here and why this misunderstood molecule might be the key to a next generation

of big scientific discoveries.

Is Dr. Thomas Chek, distinguished professor in biochemistry

at the University of Colorado in Boulder,

and the author of the book The Catalyst, R&A and the quest to unlock life's deepest secrets.

He won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his RNA research in 1989 and I'm happy to welcome you to Science Friday.

I'm so happy to be here, Ira.

Nice to have you. You know, for a lot of us, our first meaningful interaction with

RNA was with the MRNANA COVID vaccines.

As someone who's been studying this for decades,

did that also feel like a big moment for you too?

Well, it was I, right, and I'll talk a bit about that, but I just need to correct you a little bit, and I hesitate to do that. You said this was people's first encounter with RNA. But actually it's in all of the food that we eat,

...