Circular RNAs: splicing's enigma variations

Circular (circ) RNAs are to transcriptomics what the famous hidden musical theme is to Elgar's Enigma Variations: woven into the entire composition but not unambiguously identified or understood by scholars to this day. Now, two studies (Hansen et al, 2013; Memczak et al, 2013) have made substantial progress in both, identifying thousands of circRNAs and beginning to crack the enigma of their cellular function, by demonstrating that the circRNAs CiRS-7/CDR1as and SRY function as natural and highly stable sponges for specific microRNAs.