The relevance of the non-coding genome to human disease has mainly been studied 
in the context of the widespread disruption of microRNA (miRNA) expression and 
function that is seen in human cancer. However, we are only beginning to 
understand the nature and extent of the involvement of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) 
in disease. Other ncRNAs, such as PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small 
nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), transcribed ultraconserved regions (T-UCRs) and large 
intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) are emerging as key elements of cellular 
homeostasis. Along with microRNAs, dysregulation of these ncRNAs is being found 
to have relevance not only to tumorigenesis, but also to neurological, 
cardiovascular, developmental and other diseases. There is great interest in 
therapeutic strategies to counteract these perturbations of ncRNAs.