Figure 3. LncRNAs orchestrate the “diminuendo” and “crescendo” of cellular functions.

Duke Ellington was probably the greatest conductor, composer and arranger in jazz history. His longtime friend and colleague Billy Strayhorn once said: “Ellington plays piano. But his real instrument is his orchestra. Each member of his orchestra is to him a distinctive tone color and set of emotions, which he mixes with others equally distinctive to produce a third thing which I like to call the Ellington Effect” [199]. One of Ellington's most important compositions is “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue”: the title refers to expression marks that mean decreasing or increasing the sound in volume. The conductor controls the elements of musical expression (tempo, dynamics, articulation) as lncRNAs orchestrate and modulate gene expression and cellular functions. (Graphic: Federico Di Gesualdo).