Shutting off inflammation
Using short snippets of RNA to turn off a specific gene in certain immune cells, scientists have shown that they can shut off the inflammation responsible for diseases such as atherosclerosis. This technique, known as RNA interference, offers a targeted way to stop inflammation and could be useful in treating not only atherosclerosis, but also other forms of heart disease as well as cancer, according to the researchers. Since RNA interference was discovered in 1998, its ability to potentially shut off any gene in the body has intrigued scientists. RNA interference works by disrupting the flow of genetic information from a cell's nucleus to its protein-building machinery. The key to success is finding a safe and effective way to deliver short strands of RNA that can bind with and destroy messenger RNA, which carries instructions from the nucleus.In a study appearing in the Oct. 9 issue of Nature Biotechnology, the...