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Article: Silencing of mutant genes with RNAi.(Innovative Technologies)
- Article from:
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Article date:
- November 15, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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RNA works hard at the business of expressing genetic information. It carries instructions from DNA in the cell nucleus into the cytoplasm, where basic housekeeping functions are carried out and proteins manufactured. When messenger RNA arrives in the cytoplasm, it binds to the ribosomes and guides the assembly of amino acids into proteins. Now advances in genomics have led to the discovery that, in addition to its transport and manufacturing roles, RNA can silence gene expression by a process called RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi provides a new tool for investigating gene function that also has potential for developing novel clinical treatments for certain previously ...