Not making the cut: Techniques to prevent RNA cleavage in structural studies of RNase–RNA complexes

•A survey of known pre-RNA cleavage RNase–RNA X-ray crystal structures.•A compendium of successful strategies to trap RNase–RNA complexes pre-cleavage.•Consideration of enzymatic mechanism when choosing a successful inhibition method.•Discussion of simultaneous use of different RNA cleavage-inhibiting strategies.•Proposals for use of new techniques to capture RNase–RNA complexes in the future.