In ChIP assays, proteins bound to DNA are temporarily crosslinked and the DNA is sheared prior to cell lysis. The target proteins are immunoprecipitated along with the crosslinked nucleotide sequences, and the DNA is then removed and identified by PCR, sequenced, applied to microarrays or analyzed in some other way. RIP is similar to ChIP, except that RNA-binding proteins are immunoprecipitated instead of DNA-binding proteins. Immunoprecipitated RNAs can then be identified by RT-PCR and cDNA sequencing.