SIRNA Synthesis

Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as small interfering RNA or silencing RNA, are a class of 20-25 nucleotide-long double-stranded RNA molecules that play a variety of roles in biology. More specifically, the siRNA is involved in RNA interference (RNAi) pathway where the siRNA interferes with the expression of a specific gene. Besides its role in the process of RNAi, siRNAs also act in RNAi-related pathways, such as a viral mechanism or in shaping the chromatin structure of a genome, the complexity of these pathways is only to be understood.

siRNA

siRNA were discovered by David Baulcombe's group in Norwich, England, as part of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants, and published their findings in Science in an article entitled "A species of small antisense RNA post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants. "Soon after, in 2001, synthetic siRNAs are shown below, be able to induce RNAi in mammalian cells by Thomas Tuschl and colleagues in a paper published in the journal Nature. This discovery has led to renewed interest in the exploitation of RNAi for biomedical research and drug development.