Stop Making Sense

Where is a scientist to begin studying a newly cloned gene that has no apparent function or phenotype? A common approach for obtaining functional clues is to inactivate the gene either in vitro or in vivo and observe the outcome. Antisense technology provides a powerful technique to study the functional consequences of gene silencing without deleting the gene altogether. In antisense technology, a DNA oligonucleotide complementary to the mRNA to be silenced is synthesized and introduced into th

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Where is a scientist to begin studying a newly cloned gene that has no apparent function or phenotype? A common approach for obtaining functional clues is to inactivate the gene either in vitro or in vivo and observe the outcome. Antisense technology provides a powerful technique to study the functional consequences of gene silencing without deleting the gene altogether.



In antisense technology, a DNA oligonucleotide complementary to the mRNA to be silenced is synthesized and introduced into the cell. The antisense DNA oligonucleotide hybridizes to the target mRNA and blocks protein production. For optimal activity and practicality, antisense oligos should be affordable, nuclease resistant, efficiently delivered across the cell membrane, and water soluble. They should also have high binding affinity and specificity for the selected sequence.

In 1997 GENE TOOLS was founded as the only commercial source for research quantities of "Morpholino" oligos. The constituents of these chains differ from ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Brenda Collins

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
A greyscale image of cells dividing.
March 2025, Issue 1

How Do Embryos Know How Fast to Develop

In mammals, intracellular clocks begin to tick within days of fertilization.

View this Issue
Discover the history, mechanics, and potential of PCR.

Become a PCR Pro

Integra Logo
3D rendered cross section of influenza viruses, showing surface proteins on the outside and single stranded RNA inside the virus

Genetic Insights Break Infectious Pathogen Barriers

Thermo Fisher Logo
A photo of sample storage boxes in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

Navigating Cold Storage Solutions

PHCbi logo 
The Immunology of the Brain

The Immunology of the Brain

Products

Sapio Sciences

Sapio Sciences Makes AI-Native Drug Discovery Seamless with NVIDIA BioNeMo

DeNovix Logo

New DeNovix Helium Nano Volume Spectrophotometer

Olink Logo

Olink® Reveal: Accessible NGS-based proteomics for every lab

Olink logo
Zymo Logo

Zymo Research Launches the Quick-16S™ Full-Length Library Prep Kit