The Making of MicroRNA

Narry Kim is a molecular cell biologist best known for her research on microRNA and RNA tailing. Dr. Kim and her group elucidated the microRNA biogenesis pathway by identifying and delineating key biogenesis factors such as DROSHA and DGCR8. The Kim lab also discovered widespread noncanonical RNA tailing, such as uridylation and mixed tailing, on microRNAs and mRNAs, which is particularly important in the context of embryonic development and viral infection.

Dr. Kim is currently a Distinguished Professor at Seoul National University (SNU) and the Director of RNA Research Center at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS). She received her BSc from SNU (1992) and DPhil from Oxford University (1998). After postdoctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the Dreyfuss lab, she relocated to Korea in 2001, setting up her own group at SNU. She is a recipient of the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award (2007), Ho-Am Prize (2009), Korean Scientist Award (2013), and Asan Prize (2019). She has served on editorial boards of Cell, Science, EMBO J, Molecular Cell, Genes Dev, and Phil Trans B, and was elected as members of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, EMBO, the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society.