The "big claws" that reveal the secrets of evolution? Come and see the whole process of the "big crab" cutting RNA!

On January 25, 2025, Beijing time, Shen Enzhi's team and Wu Jianping's team from West Lake Laboratory published a research result titled "Structural insights into RNA cleavage by PIWI Argonaute" online in Nature magazine. They saw the entire process of "RNA scissors" cutting, revealing the structure of PIWI protein (MILI protein) in mice and how it cooperates with piRNA to cut target RNA.

| Screenshot of the paper

What are PIWI proteins? What role do piRNAs play? How do they work together? Here's a picture to help you understand!

(Source: Westlake University)