The Poly(A) Tail

As a part of the introductory series of entries for my blog, I thought I would write a bit about what I do – some basic comments about my research area. Colloquially, what I do is study the ways that poly(A) tails are added to messenger RNAs in plants. Before getting into that subject, though, it helps to review just what I mean by the poly(A) tail, and what this feature of mRNAs does.