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recombinant DNA

Recombinant DNA technology might turn bacteria into factories for producing siRNAs. (zoetnet/Flickr)

If you are a scientist and you want to turn off a gene, one option that’s been gaining traction is RNA interference (or RNAi). In this molecular process—first discovered in plants and only 12 years ago detected in mammals—bits of RNA called small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) cancel out a gene’s messenger RNA, effectively muffling that gene.

Labs can order custom-made, chemically synthesized siRNAs for just about any DNA sequence they want to silence. The tricky part is deciding what the right sequence is—especially when that gene is part of a virus, where genes can mutate pretty quickly.

However, a biotechnology approach to producing siRNAs could make it relatively easy for just about any lab that can master recombinant DNA technologies to make a number of siRNAs against multiple sequences within the same target gene: a potential bonus for companies seeking to make drugs that rely on RNAi. Full story »

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