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US scientists have created a nanoparticle drug that acts like a stealth bomber to smuggle its RNA-interfering payload past the body's defence systems and drop it on to cancer cells. It is, say the researchers, the first example of a nanoparticle that can seek out its target after being injected into the bloodstream and paves the way for the selective targeting of cells and tissues in the body while causing only little   'collateral damage' in the form of side effects. "This is the first proof of concept that RNA interference can occur in a human from delivered siRNA" - Mark...

It's the first time the argonaute protein has been seen bound to both target and guide strands.Science A picture of a bacterial protein complex that selects and slices up RNA molecules, thereby silencing genes, provides fresh insight into the process of RNA interference (RNAi), researchers say. The structure is the first to capture the so-called argonaute protein when it is bound to both the genetic template that guides it to its RNA target, and the target strand of RNA itself.Researchers use RNAi to block expression of selected genes, and some hope that it can be used to fight diseases....

A NEW study is raising doubts about one of the hottest fields in biotechnology. That field, called RNA interference, is supposed to provide a way to precisely turn off specific disease-causing genes. Biotech start-ups and big pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop drugs to harness this mechanism. But the study suggests that at least some drugs now being tested in clinical trials actually work not by silencing genes but by activating the immune system. That could mean the drugs are not really precise tools and could have unexpected side effects. “It seems to be working by a completely different mechanism...

Two studies highlight promise and problems for gene silencing technique. Silencing RNA can be a powerful tool: but how does it work?MEDI-MATION/SPL Researchers have managed to silence tiny chunks of RNA in monkeys using a gene-therapy technique. Their success could offer a new way to treat conditions from cancer to cardiovascular disease. But another study of how RNA interference (RNAi) works — this time in mice — casts some doubt over how well researchers understand the process, and suggests caution in pursuing the technique in people. In the monkey study, researchers looked at microRNAs (miRNAs) — small chunks of RNA...

This year’s Nobel prize for physiology or medicine has been awarded to two American researchers, Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello, for a far-reaching discovery about how genes are controlled within living cells. The discovery was made in 1998, only eight years ago. It has been recognized with unusual speed by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, which often lets decades elapse before awarding its accolade. The two scientists’ finding clarified a series of puzzling results obtained mostly by plant biologists trying to change the colors of petunias. By clarifying what was going on, they discovered a novel and quite...

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...

In a study to be published in the January 2006 issue of Nature Biotechnology, researchers led by a team of scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have devised a novel strategy that uses stem cell-based gene therapy and RNA interference to genetically reverse sickle cell disease (SCD) in human cells. This research is the first to demonstrate a way to genetically correct this debilitating blood disease using RNA interference technology. To prevent the production of the abnormal hemoglobin that causes sickle cell disease, a viral vector was introduced in cell cultures of patients who have the disease. The vector carried...