Table of Contents
What is gene silencing process?
Gene silencing refers to a mechanism by which cells shut down large sections of chromosomal DNA. It is generally used to describe the “switching off” of a gene by a mechanism other than genetic modification.
How is mRNA silenced?
Messenger RNAs can be silenced (degraded or their translation inhibited) by small RNA molecules. The small RNA that initiates mRNA silencing is anchored to an Argonaute/Piwi protein, and acts as a sequence-specific guide to direct mRNA cleavage or trimming, perhaps removing the mRNA’s poly(A) tail.
What is importance of gene silencing?
Gene silencing is important for development, stress responses, and suppression of viruses, transposons, and transgenes [19–23]. Several epigenetic phenomena such as genome imprinting [24, 25] and X chromosome inactivation [26, 27] are caused by transcriptional gene silencing (TGS).
What is RNA silencing technology?
RNA silencing is a conserved RNA-mediated, sequence-specific eukaryotic gene silencing mechanism involved in numerous biological process in plants and animals that include developmental and metabolic regulation, RNA stability and processing, chromosomal dynamics, and host defense (Carthew & Sontheimer, 2009; Ding & …
What is RNA interference PDF?
RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionary conserved mechanism which provides protection against invading viral particles or retrotrasposons and suppresses unnecessary expression of certain genes. Molecules like Dicer and RNA Induced Silencing Complex (RISC) are central to RNAi machinery.
What is gene silencing Upsc?
UPSC Exam Preparation: Topic of the Day – RNA Interference and Antisense Technology. RNAi is a gene silencing technology that inhibits protein synthesis in target cells using double-stranded RNA. Same result is achieved by Antisense technology through single-stranded RNA.
HOW WAS gene silencing discovered?
It was discovered in 1998 by Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, who won the Nobel Prize for their discovery in 2006. The process to silence genes first begins with the entrance of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecule into the cell, which triggers the RNAi pathway.
What are the types of RNAi?
Two types of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules, microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), are central to components to the RNAi pathway.
Why is it called gene silencing?
Gene silencing is often considered the same as gene knockdown. When genes are silenced, their expression is reduced. In contrast, when genes are knocked out, they are completely erased from the organism’s genome and, thus, have no expression.