RNA splicing
RNA splicing was discovered in the late 1970s through the study of adenoviruses that invade mammals and replicate inside them. Researchers identified RNA molecules that contained sequences from noncontiguous parts of the virus’s genome. This discovery led to the conclusion that regulatory mechanisms existed which affected mature RNA and the genes it expresses. Using minigenes as a splice reporting vector to explore the effects of RNA splicing regulation naturally followed and remains the major use of minigenes to date.