Editing Mutation (section)

=== Compensatory mutations in RNA ===
As the function of a RNA molecule is dependent on its structure,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doudna |first=Jennifer A. |title=Structural genomics of RNA |date=1 November 2000 |url=http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/80729 |journal=Nature Structural Biology |volume=7 |pages=954–956 |doi=10.1038/80729|pmid=11103998 |s2cid=998448 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> the structure of RNA molecules is evolutionarily conserved. Therefore, any mutation that alters the stable structure of RNA molecules must be compensated by other compensatory mutations. In the context of RNA, the sequence of the RNA can be considered as ' genotype' and the structure of the RNA can be considered as its 'phenotype'. Since RNAs have relatively simpler composition than proteins, the structure of RNA molecules can be computationally predicted with high degree of accuracy. Because of this convenience, compensatory mutations have been studied in computational simulations using RNA folding algorithms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cowperthwaite |first1=Matthew C. |last2=Bull |first2=J. J. |last3=Meyers |first3=Lauren Ancel |date=20 October 2006 |title=From Bad to Good: Fitness Reversals and the Ascent of Deleterious Mutations |journal=PLOS Computational Biology |language=en |volume=2 |issue=10 |pages=e141 |doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020141 |issn=1553-7358 |pmc=1617134 |pmid=17054393|bibcode=2006PLSCB...2..141C |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cowperthwaite |first1=Matthew C. |last2=Meyers |first2=Lauren Ancel |date=1 December 2007 |title=How Mutational Networks Shape Evolution: Lessons from RNA Models |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095507 |journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=203–230 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095507 |issn=1543-592X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>