RNA editing and hypermutation by adenosine deamination

Double-stranded RNA adenosine deaminase (dsRAD) was discovered ten years ago(1,2). In the intervening decade, research on dsRAD has progressed not only predictably, such as with the purification of the enzyme and identification of cDNAs, but also in some quite surprising ways. This review covers both areas of progress, but will concentrate on the surprises, which include the discovery that dsRAD is a member of a larger family of deaminases and the identification of RNAs that appear to be targets for these deaminases in vivo.