Rnai : Whats All the Noise about Gene Silencing

By Hood, Ernie

Description
Government Reference Publication

Excerpt
Excerpt: It all began with petunias. In the late 1980s, geneticist Richard Jorgensen, then working at a California plant biotechnology company, attempted to deepen the hue of purple petunias by introducing more of the gene that gives them their color, in the form of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Instead, some of the engineered flowers became variegated and others turned white, indicating that expression of both the introduced pigmentation gene and its homologous endogenous gene had been knocked down or knocked out altogether. Jorgensen had serendipitously discovered an age-old natural biologic process now recognized to be evolutionarily conserved in most, if not all, forms of life. Today, gene silencing?or RNA interference (RNAi), as it is now known?has revolutionized genetics and is on the verge of spawning an entirely new class of drugs to treat human diseases with a genetic component. The ability to selectively silence genes is one of the hottest topics in biology today. Science crowned RNAi as its ?Breakthrough of the Year? in 2002. Nobel laureate and RNAi pioneer Phillip Sharp, who is Salvador E. Luria Professor of Biology and director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), calls it ?the most exciting discovery in the last decade,? adding that ?theres not an area of biological science this will not touch.? John Maraganore, who is president, CEO, and director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, touts RNAi as ?presenting perhaps the broadest new class of therapeutics since recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies.?

Book Id: WPLBN0000082128
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 813,332 KB.
Reproduction Date: 2005
Full Text

Title:

Rnai : Whats All the Noise about Gene Silencing

Author:

Hood, Ernie

Volume:

Language:

English

Subject:

Government publications, United Nations., United Nations. Office for Disarmament Affairs

Collection:

Disarmament Documents

Subcollection:

Historic
Publication Date:

Publisher:

United Nations - Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)

Add to Book Shelf

Flag as Inappropriate

Other Books I Looked at: Click to view all Books in my History

Rnai : Whats All the Noise about Gene Si... (by Hood, Ernie)
(200)

People also read these books: Click to view all Additional Books

Using Bioinformatics in Gene and Drug Di... (by Searls, David B.)
(42)
The Power of Our Words (by Liz Mcgrath)
(934)
Safety Methods in Power System Construct... (by Accident Preventin Committee Engineering Natinal S...)
(3)
Data Explosion Bringing Order to Chaos w... (by Schmidt, Charles W.)
(3)
Bedlam Boyz (by Guon, Ellen)
(46)
()
An Assessment of the Model of Concentrat... (by Thorpe, Karen L.)
(175)
Applications of a Versatile Technique-Fo... (by Thornson, B. A.)
(132)
Ambient Endotoxin Concentrations in Pm10... (by Thorne, Peter S.)
(200)
Monosaccharide Autoxidation in Health an... (by Thornalley, Paul J.)
(132)
Genotoxicity of N-Acetylarylamines in th... (by Thorgeirsson, Snorri S.)
(175)
Interpreting Posterior Relative Risk Est... (by Thomson, Andrew)
(200)

Other Books by Same Author: Click to view all books by Hood, Ernie

Benefits of Better Air Pinpointing Effec... (by Hood, Ernie)
(200)
Chemical and Biological Weapons : New Qu... (by Hood, Ernie)
(155)
Connecting to a Sustainable Future (by Hood, Ernie)
(132)
Drawing Comparisons at Duke (by Hood, Ernie)
(200)
Dwelling Disparities How Poor Housing Le... (by Hood, Ernie)
(200)
Exposure Now, Sickness Later Early Expos... (by Hood, Ernie)
(132)
Fewer Frogs in Illinois Organochlorines ... (by Hood, Ernie)
(118)
Flu Vaccine Production Gets a Shot in th... (by Hood, Ernie)
(200)
Fullerenes and Fish Brains Nanomaterials... (by Hood, Ernie)
(175)
Lessons Learned Chemical Plant Safety Si... (by Hood, Ernie)
(132)

Other Books with Same Subject: Click to view all books in Government publications, United Nations., United Nations. Office for Disarmament Affairs

Development of Southern Bluefin Tuna Fis... (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(7)
The Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(9)
Why Pro-Poor (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(132)
Why Livestock (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(200)
Why Policies and Institutions (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(132)
The Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(1)
References (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(200)
La Conservacion Y Ordenacion de Poblacio... (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(175)
La Conservacion Y Ordenacion de Poblacio... (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(132)
La Ordeneoon Encez de las Pcolacones de ... (by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...)
(200)