Courtesy of Roger J. Pomerantz and the Center for Human Virology and Biodefense ©2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dicer cleaves exogenous or endogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into 21–25-nucleotide small interfering RNAs (siRNA). The siRNAs then form into ATP-containing RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs), which in combination with helicase lead to siRNA unwinding. Unwound siRNAs bind target RNAs and prime synthesis of new dsRNA by RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP). The newly synthesized RNA is then degraded by Dicer or related enzymes. In Drosophila and plants, this becomes a catalytic system leading to increased production of siRNAs and amplification of the RNAi effect. (R.S. Dave, R.J. Pomerantz, Rev Med Virol, 13:373–85, 2003.) across the world, researchers
Since the technique hit lab benches across the world researchers have assessed the specificity and power of gene silencing through RNA interference. RNAi has found use both as a research tool and as a potential therapeutic ...
