Regulated RNA rewriting: Modelling RNA editing with guided insertion

RNA editing is an important alternative genetic processing event that is known to take place in all higher eukaryotes. We study a model of string rewriting based on the sophisticated RNA editing mechanism found in trypanosome kinetoplasts. We demonstrate basic properties of three principal variants of this model which we show to form a strict hierarchy in terms of expressive power. We also present a method and software for simulating real biological RNA editing via this model and apply the theoretical results to suggest real biological constraints on this process.