We are biologists who use diverse plant species to study a class of genes that produce small RNAs. Small RNAs went largely undetected until around the turn of the century. We now know that they are critical components of gene expression in nearly all eukaryotic organisms. These small RNAs are functionally united in that they all function as sequence-specific repressors of other genes. Small RNAs are especially important for regulating the developmental programs of both animals and plants
