To see RNA I first must consider what a nucleotide is and how the atom's electronic fields are used to chain certain atoms together and then hold shapes whose exact shapes are predicted within an interval of confidence at specific environmental conditions solely due to the location of electrons in orbits, as can be said for all biochemical reactions and relationships, it is ultimately the electron's "fault". I find it in water, the length and mass of each hydrogen and oxygen and their bonds, as electronic fields interact with my nucleotide in various places, and the polarities and directions each as these molecules would seek a comfortable position in my tranquil, 7.4 PH, cup of water.
One I have established what a single nucleotide is, its length and mass, sitting in water by itself, (details about the entity as a real thing floating around), I can imagine what a length of this repeating unit might look like, and discuss its possible shapes, again taking into account that it is the electrons in their orbits with shapes predicted over time within an interval of confidence that give the many possibilities of structure arrangements. At this point we should begin to load the 3d structures of these ribosomes and RNA molecules (it is freely available to download and view the 3-dimensional shapes of many cellular structures such as membrane pores and enzymes now) and examine them, and how they move, to begin to assess the nature of RNA (and protein while you are in there!).
From there you may attain practical biotechnology experience using RNA assays and fun actually used experimental equipment such as real-time pcr (playing with DNA is kind of like playing with RNA) to further gain insight on how easily RNA is ruined, how to find it in a tube, how the sequences can fold to make shapes with activity, how to establish what RNA is being transcribed in a running cell at what intervals, building models of active transcription to predict cellular products from RNA concentrations, a gold mine of opportunity awaits those who unlock the practical applications of RNA.
