Glossary

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RNAi; RNA interference

Molecular-biological process which blocks the activity of a specific gene

RNAi is a natural mechanism for gene regulation in plants, animals and humans which silences the expression of genes in cells. Its main purpose is to defend against foreign RNA from viruses, for example.

Research currently suggests that RNA interference is triggered by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). An enzyme initially cleaves the dsRNA into shorter fragments. Single strands of these short RNA fragments bind to complementary messenger RNA (mRNA), which is blocked and destroyed as a result. This therefore inhibits the synthesis of the corresponding proteins in the ribosomes. This process is known as PTGS (post-transcriptional gene silencing).

It is thought that the anti-sense mechanism (gene silencing through the production of complementary RNA) works in the same way.

Research is focusing on the use of RNAi to find a cure for diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis B.