RNA interference - From Biology to clinical applications

Abstract

I strongly advice the readers to go to the Nobel foundation web site and read the Nobel lectures by Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello, the two 2006 Nobel laureates "for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA" (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2006/). Well, it is impressive how both the Nobel laureates clearly anticipate the immense possibility the phenomenon they discovered is giving to Biology and its applications. That is to say, they clearly visioned the great chance to both advance our theoretical understanding of gene expression regulation (i.e., how the gene networks and circuiteries are finely tuned by RNA interference, and its critical role in ontogeny) and make use in biotechnological applications of this formidable tool, notably in translational medicine. Here we go to the...