Box 1.

Why should snoRNAs be considered as cancer therapeutic targets?

SnoRNAs are functionally important for ribosome synthesis and function SnoRNAs exhibit tissue- and tumour-specific patterns of expression SnoRNAs are mostly encoded intronically, implying that with proper design, their coding sequence can be manipulated at the gene level (e.g. using CRISPR-Cas9) without altering the expression of the host gene. SnoRNAs may also be targeted at the RNA level, using antisense oligonucleotides that may either block their Watson-Crick base-pairing capacity or lead to their degradation. SnoRNAs, and the modification they target, are emerging as biomarkers for disease (cancer) diagnosis and prognosis.