Long non-coding RNAs: insights into functions

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Abstract
The recent discovery that most of the eukaryotic genome is transcribed has focused interest on the importance of non-coding transcripts. Long non-coding RNAs are emerging as a class with wide-ranging functions in gene regulation. In mammals and other eukaryotes most of the genome is transcribed in a developmentally regulated manner to produce large numbers of long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Here we review the rapidly advancing field of long ncRNAs, describing their conservation, their organization in the genome and their roles in gene regulation. We also consider the medical implications, and the emerging recognition that any transcript, regardless of coding potential, can have an intrinsic function as an RNA.