Posted on 05/29/2006 10:45:01 PM PDT by neverdem
A large number of mice died unexpectedly in a test of a new technique for inactivating genes that has been widely proclaimed a breakthrough, scientists are reporting today.
The finding could give rise to new caution about the technique, called RNA interference, which is already widely used in laboratory experiments and is starting to be tested in people as a means of treating diseases by silencing the genes that cause them.
But Dr. Mark A. Kay and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine report today in the journal Nature that the technique, also called RNAi for short, caused liver poisoning and death in mice.
"It's a very striking result — all of the fatalities observed and the toxicity, which was unexpected," said Timothy W. Nilsen, director of the center for RNA molecular biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "It's really a note of concern for rapid therapeutic development of RNAi."
But Phillip Zamore, an RNAi expert at the University of Massachusetts, said the Stanford scientists had used a variation of the technique that was "no longer state of the art" and required a very high dose. The tests already conducted in people involve a different technique and lower doses, said Dr. Zamore, who is a co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a company in Cambridge, Mass., that is developing drugs using RNAi.
Dr. Kay himself said he thought the findings were "not a showstopper by any means" for the field. "It's like any drug," he said. "The toxicity depends on the dose."
RNA is the chemical cousin of DNA, which encodes hereditary instructions in genes. RNA was once thought to be a mere messenger in the cell. But in a rush of discoveries over the last few years, scientists have found that RNA plays a more active role...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Nature 441, 537-541 (25 May 2006) Letters to Editor
I kill any, and all mice in my jeans. But I guess I'm old-fashioned.
btw, I use a shoe.
Yep I'm up too late.
Ping
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FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Just wait.... all the PETA people will be all over this one!
I'm glad the NY Times clarified that.
In the last three weeks 10 mice died expectantly in a trapping technique for separating them from their genes close to my home. :)
Dr. Kay lied and mice died. Where's the outrage?
Archive
Now that is truly building a better mouse trap.
A bit labor intensive but it has commercial possibilities
Drat.
At least it will retain its usefulness in vitro for gene silencing even if it never becomes useful pharmaceutically.
How bout that, they spelled it wrong.
Take my word for it - don't try using an ice pick.
Does he have a brother?
You use a shoe, but I remind you that this is research on a NEW technique for inactivating genes, not your old, tried-and-true, way. Sounds like it worked, in a way. ~:)
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You are missing out.
Now why does this bring up the commercial in my mind of the guy trying to figure out what that extra wall switch does???
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