Talk:Three prime untranslated region
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can someone give a layman's explanation too? I have no idea what this article is describing.
I aggree, all we want to know is what 3'UTR means and what it relates to: Here is one definition that I find more instructive: Untranslated Region (3' UTR) Sequences on the 3' end of mRNA but not translated into protein. 3' UTR may contain sequences that regulate translation efficiency, mRNA stability, and polyadenylation signals
The article gives some information about a part of every mRNA. The 3' UTR comes after the part of the mRNA that includes the protein coding region. Most genes have extra sequence before the protein coding region begins (5' UTR) and after the protein coding region ends (3' UTR). There are numerous sequence motifs in these regions that help to control how the gene is regulated. Hence, this topic comes under the section about gene expression. The UTR's are not the same as the flanks, before and after the sequence transcribed into mRNA, these regions also contain regulatory motifs, e.g. promoters.
It's tough to decide where a gene starts and ends; most people would agree that the most important part of a gene is the region that contains the code to make protein, though it turns out that not all genes make proteins.
How about siRNAs (a part of RNAi) ... do those also have their targets their?
How about this as a first sentence for laypeople
The 3' UTR is the un-translated region of a mRNA after the protein coding sequence. The 3' UTR is not translated into protein so may have regulatory roles.
TransControl 06:43, 4 December 2006 (UTC)