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New Hot Paper Comments

By Dr. Thomas Tuschl

ESI Special Topics, September 2002
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/comments/september-02-ThomasTuschl.html

Dr. Thomas Tuschl answers a few questions about this month's new hot paper in field of Molecular Biology & Genetics.

From •>>September 2002

Field: Molecular Biology & Genetics
Article Title: RNA interference is mediated by 21-and 22-nucleotide RNAs
 Authors: Elbashir, SM;Lendeckel, W;Tuschl, T
Journal: GENE DEVELOP
Volume: 15
Page: 188-200
Year: JAN 15 2001
* Max Planck Inst Biophys Chem, Dept Cellular Biochem, Fassberg 11, D-37077 Gottingen, Germany.
* Max Planck Inst Biophys Chem, Dept Cellular Biochem, D-37077 Gottingen, Germany.

ST:  Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

The paper characterized the length and structure of small interfering RNAs and reports for the first time the effective reconstitution of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) from synthetic siRNAs. It laid some of the groundwork for using siRNAs as a tool for silencing genes in mammalian cells. The term "small interfering RNA (siRNA)" was coined in this paper.

ST:  Does it describe a new discovery or new methodology that's useful to others?

It describes a cloning method for small RNAs which is now heavily used to identify new gene products, so called miRNAs, in organisms ranging from plants to human. Such genes have been overlooked for a long time.

ST:  What were some of the circumstances that led you to do this research?

We were dissecting the mechanism of RNA interference. Its understanding is very important for exploiting it for gene silencing. We had developed a biochemical system previously and were just continuing to exploit it for mechanistic analysis of the RNAi process.

ST:  Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

It is a thorough biochemical analysis that describes the structure of a small nucleic acid RNA entity (small interfering RNAs), that today is widely used for turning genes off in mammalian cells. The term "small interfering RNA" was coined in this paper.End

Dr.Thomas Tuschl
Dept. of Cellular Biochemistry, AG 105
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
37077 Gottingen
Germany

ESI Special Topics, September 2002
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/comments/september-02-ThomasTuschl.html

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