Birth of a Regulatory Long Non-coding RNA/Gene, linc-UR-UB

The origin of genes has been a major topic of research for many years, albeit in some cases, it has been a difficult process to elucidate. Insightful is a recent publication that experimentally shows how one gene, linc-UR-UB was born. This gene is regulated in a complex manner in male germ cells during spermatogenesis and is believed to participate in the regulation of levels of the ubiquitin specific peptidase 18 (USP18) mRNA. The process of formation of linc-UR-UB appears relatively simple. It involves a transcription read through from an upstream gene to a downstream functional element, the USP18 3' UTR sequence. This small element also shares the same sequence as the 3' ends of the lincRNA FAM247 family genes. In addition to linc-UR-UB, it is possible that other genes formed in a similar fashion that involves a genomic sequence read through to a functional element.