Understanding RNA editing and its use in gene editing

RNA molecules regulate and participate in a vast array of cellular processes, and the scientific community is now well into a new era in which some aspect of RNA biology—as a tool, therapeutic, diagnostic, or central player in fundamental biological processes—is becoming increasingly important. Any abnormality in RNA often results in a deficiency of protein production, which may also cause various diseases. Among the various types of RNA processing, RNA editing is an enigmatic reaction in which the sequence context at the RNA level is rewritten. This review summarizes our current understanding of RNA editing in various organisms especially focusing on C-to-U and U-to-C RNA editing in plants and pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins that are responsible for target RNA recognition and editing reactions. An overview of the recent developments in synthetic RNA editing tools and future perspective of the use of PPR system for gene therapy is also provided.