https://phys.org/news/2018-07-screening-approach-reveals-importance-micrornas.html

To overcome this hurdle, the researchers developed a new wet bench technology called microRNA Discovery by forced Genome Expression (miDGE). This broadly applicable methodology can screen numerous pathogen genomes in parallel, identifying microRNAs from organisms lacking a laboratory culture system. Using miDGE, they screened more than 73 different papillomavirus genomes for the ability to encode microRNAs.

Most papillomaviruses do not appear to code for microRNAs, but the researchers uncovered five new highly probable papillomavirus-encoded microRNAs. Although the papillomavirus microRNAs are not expressed in cancers associated with high-risk infection, some of them control viral gene expression. According to the authors, the findings suggest that microRNAs are important regulators of the papillomavirus life cycle.