Our finding indicated that METTL16 KO led to a robust accumulation of 47/45S, 32S, and 30S pre-ribosomal RNAs (pre-rRNAs), accompanied by a corresponding reduction of 21S and 18S-E rRNA levels in HCC cells (Fig. 6M–O and Additional file 1: Fig. S7L–O). The gene discussed is METTL16; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.