LAUSR

Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) are functional RNA molecules that are not translatable into proteins (Djebali et al., 2012; Lonsdale et al., 2013; Forrest et al., 2014). Initially, ncRNAs referred to tRNAs and rRNAs (Brown et al., 1992; St Laurent et al., 2015). Recent technical advances have led to the discovery and characterization of many new classes of ncRNAs (Hüttenhofer and Vogel, 2006). These new ncRNAs species include snRNAs, snoRNAs, miRNAs, siRNAs, piRNAs, exRNAs, long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs), scaRNAs, and circRNAs (He and Hannon, 2004; Gu et al., 2007; Esteller, 2011; Redzic et al., 2014; Wu and Yang, 2015). While not all of their functions are known, many of the ncRNA species appear to play essential roles regulating transcription and translation of genes and transcription of ncRNAs themselves. Thus, there is little surprise that ncRNAs are identified as playing important roles in normal physiologic processes, complex human traits, and human diseases (Diederichs et al., 2016; Li et al., 2018; Fernandes et al., 2019; Vijayan and Reddy, 2020). This special issue focused on the ncRNA, particularly circRNAs, lncRNAs, miRNAs, and their role in human disease. The aim of this issue is to provide a broad overview of current research on the diverse work being done to elucidate the role of ncRNAs in disease. A major theme that emerged was the potential role of miRNAs as prognostic markers or biomarkers of disease.