RNA interference (RNAi) was first characterised in which organism?

The roundworm C. elegans. The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is the answer. Andrew Fire and Craig Mello published their discovery in Nature on 19 February 1998. They injected sense and antisense RNA together into the worms, and the worms twitched as if the muscle gene were gone. This work won them the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The fruit fly, the E. coli bacterium and yeast were not the organism of that key experiment. Memory hook: a worm gave us RNAi. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

'RNA interference (RNAi)' technology has gained popularity in the last few years. Why? 1. It is used in developing gene silencing therapies. 2. It can be used in developing therapies for the treatment of cancer. 3. It can be used to develop hormone replacement therapies. 4. It can be used to produce crop plants that are resistant to viral pathogens. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1, 2 and 4. Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct, so the answer is 1, 2 and 4. RNAi destroys the message of one chosen gene, so it suits gene-silencing therapies. Researchers are also testing it against cancer. In plants, it can give resistance to viruses. Statement 3 is wrong because hormone replacement supplies a missing hormone, while RNAi turns a gene down. Options (b) and (c) fail because they include statement 3. Option (d) fails because it leaves out statement 2. Memory hook: RNAi silences genes, it does not supply hormones. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

What does the protein complex Dicer do in RNA interference?

It cuts double-stranded RNA into small fragments. Dicer cuts double-stranded RNA into small fragments. These fragments are called siRNA. Another complex, RISC, then uses them to find matching mRNA. Copying DNA into mRNA is transcription, which happens before RNAi acts. Joining amino acids into a protein is the job of the protein-making machinery. DNA repair is not a step in RNAi. Memory hook: Dicer dices the double strand. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

In RNA interference, which complex keeps one RNA strand as a probe and uses it to cleave matching mRNA?

RISC. RISC is the complex. It keeps one strand of the small RNA fragment and removes the other. The kept strand finds mRNA with a matching code, and RISC cleaves it. Dicer only cuts the double-stranded RNA into fragments. A transposon is a jumping gene that RNAi keeps under control. A virus may trigger the response, but it does not perform it. Memory hook: RISC is the guard with the photograph. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

Which was the first siRNA drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration?

Patisiran. Patisiran was the first, approved on 10 August 2018. It treats nerve damage caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis. A lipid nanoparticle carries it to liver cells. Givosiran was approved a year later as the second siRNA drug. Inclisiran and lumasiran were also approved after patisiran. Memory hook: the first siRNA drug came in 2018. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

In which year did Fire and Mello publish their discovery of RNA interference in the journal Nature?

1998. They published it on 19 February 1998. The year 2006 is when they received the Nobel Prize. The year 2018 is when the first siRNA drug was approved. Around 1990 is when petunia flowers lost colour in puzzling experiments. That puzzle stayed unexplained until the 1998 paper. Memory hook: discovery in 1998, prize in 2006. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

In the experiment of Fire and Mello on roundworms, what made the worms twitch like worms with no working muscle gene?

Injecting sense and antisense RNA together. Injecting sense and antisense RNA together made the worms twitch. Together the two strands form double-stranded RNA. Injecting sense RNA alone changed nothing. Injecting antisense RNA alone also changed nothing. Without any injection there was no effect either. Memory hook: only the pair silences the gene. Read more: RNA Interference (RNAi), Hepatitis B and C Compared to HIV.

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Which scientists received the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of RNA interference?

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