New test for selection of RNA secondary structures

Bia developed a test for selection of non-coding RNAs. Her test uses the RNA secondary structure as proxy for its function. In contrast to previous work, she cannot only asses negative selection but also pinpoint structures with lineage specific changes and signatures of positive selection. We found candidates, that might be involved in the evolution of the human brain and its cognitive functions. Her test, called SSS (“Selection on Secondary Structure”), is available as a from her github repository and is useful for genome-wide assessments of non-coding RNA structural evolution as well as candidate approaches.