On Wed, 6 Oct 2004 15:38:06 +0000 (UTC), "Malcolm"
 wrote:

>
>"Robert Karl Stonjek"  wrote
>> Working with Drosophila cells, the first screen used almost 20,000 double-
>> stranded RNAs, representing virtually the entire Drosophila genome. A
>> double-stranded RNA pairs with, and causes the destruction of, a matching
>> messenger RNA, thus preventing the encoded protein from being formed, a
>> process called RNA interference (RNAi).
>>
>Should this not be "antisense" RNA (RNA with the
complementary sequence to
>the messenger RNA), not "double-stranded RNA"?
>
 They were using double-stranded RNA which is similiar in the effect
to using single stranded "antisense" RNA. Double stranded RNA, when
found in a cell, is chopped up into small single stranded segments
(19-21 nucleotides?) by the enzyme called "Dicer". These short
"antisense" segments will then bind to a matching mRNA to
"interfere"
with its translation.
  William L Hunt
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