The National Institutes of Health awarded $17 million in 2013 for 24 research projects designed to improve scientists' understanding of a recently discovered type of cell-to-cell communication based on extracellular (outside the cell) RNA, also called exRNA. Through these awards, scientists explore the basic biology of exRNAs and develop tools and technologies that apply new knowledge about exRNAs to disease research, diagnosis and treatment. exRNAs travel in body fluids, including fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord, urine, and blood.