In an effort to find improved "site-directed RNA editing" (SDRE) tools, researchers from Bar-Ilan University and other centers in Israel and the US explore "adenosine deaminase acting on RNA" (ADAR) enzymes involved in RNA editing events that swap adenosine bases out for inosine, focusing on ADAR candidates from bird species that have evolved to function at relatively high temperatures. As they explain in PLOS Genetics, they expressed numerous ADARs in editing-naïve Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells, flagging ADARs from the hummingbird and mallard duck as particularly adept RNA editing tools at elevated temperatures. "Our results indicate that species evolved to live with higher core body temperatures have developed ADAR enzymes that target weaker [double-stranded RNA] structures and would therefore be more effective than other ADARs," the team notes. "Further studies may use this approach to isolate additional ADARs with an editing profile of choice to meet specific requirements, thus broadening the applicability of SDRE."