Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as short interfering RNA or silencing RNA, is a class of double-stranded RNA molecules, 20-25 base pairs in length. siRNA plays many roles, but its most notable is in the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, where it interferes with the expression of specific genes with complementary nucleotide sequence. siRNA also acts in RNAi-related pathways, e.g., as an antiviral mechanism or in shaping the chromatin structure of a genome. The complexity of these pathways is only now being elucidated.
siRNAs and their role in post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants were first discovered by David Baulcombe's group at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, England and reported in Science in 1999. Thomas Tuschl and colleagues soon reported in Nature that synthetic siRNAs could induce RNAi in mammalian cells. This discovery led to a surge in interest in harnessing RNAi for biomedical research and drug development.
Read more about Small Interfering RNA: Structure, RNAi Induction Using SiRNAs or Their Biosynthetic Precursors, RNA Activation, Challenges: Avoiding Nonspecific Effects, Possible Therapeutic Applications and Challenges
Famous quotes containing the words small and/or interfering:
“I made him a low curtsy and thanked him for the honor he intended me, but told him I had no kind of ambition to be his upper servant.... I then asked him how many offices he had allotted for me to perform for those great advantages he had offered me, of suffering me to humor him in all his whims and to receive meat, drink, and lodging at his hands; but hoped he would allow me some small wages, that I might now and then recreate myself with my fellow servants.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“Logic and fact keep interfering with the easy flow of conversation.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)