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Fluctuations, pauses and backtracking in DNA transcription

<28>RNA is fundamental to the robust operation of biological cells, but RNA counts vary considerably between cells and over time (RNA bursts). We propose a mechanism for RNA bursting, based on the first ever (now established) molecular-level model of the DNA copying process (transcriptional elongation). The key ingredient is the incorporation of newly discovered “elongation pauses” that stall RNA production. Significant impact is evidenced by invited review (doi:10.1016/j.gde.2010.06.009), theoretical extensions (e.g., doi:10.1073/pnas.0803507106, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000704), experimental testing (e.g., doi:10.1073/pnas.1117603109), and award of MRC and Brunel Fellowships (Voliotis). In [Cohen2] (and doi:10.1088/1478-3975/9/3/036007), we propose that this mechanism is used for RNA error correction.