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Expand Up @@ -6,3 +6,10 @@ track: Advanced Topics
## Alternative Splicing

Living cells, like programmers, increase their efficiency through repurposing code. Just as a programmer rearranges functional modules to create different outcomes, RNA transcripts can be rearranged to create different proteins. For RNA, exons are similar to program modules in that they often correspond to functional parts of proteins. Thus, in rearranging the exons, mRNA rearranges the functions of the protein product. In practical terms, this means that when raw RNA transcripts are spliced into more than one type of mRNA, they produce more than one functional protein product. This process is known as alternative splicing. Alternative transcripts may differ at the beginning or end of transcripts, or change which exons are used to create the final product. While alternatively spliced mRNAs appear in healthy cells, sequence variations that disrupt normal splicing are common in diseases like cancer.

### Types of Alternative Splicing

Exon skipping: The most common type, where certain exons are skipped in the final mRNA.
Intron retention: Some introns are retained in the mature mRNA instead of being spliced out.
Alternative 5' or 3' splice site: Variability in where splicing occurs at the exon-intron junctions.
Mutually exclusive exons: When only one of two exons is included in the mRNA.