WASHINGTON (Reuters) RNA interference, whose discovery brought
Americans Andrew Fire and Craig Mello the Nobel Prize in
Medicine Monday, is one of the hottest new areas of
biotechnology and has spawned its own mini-industry. The two
researchers discovered that little pieces of genetic material
called RNA could silence genes — turning them off and altering a
cell's functions. Plants use the mechanism to fight off viruses
and the discovery is being exploited by labs and companies
around the world to try to find cures for cancer, certain types
of blindness, and even bird flu. "It's a classic example of
basic research which has turned out to uncover a biological
mechanism which now has tremendous potential for ... really
impacting human health," said Dr. Jeremy Berg, head of the U.S.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which funded
Fire and Mello's work. Less than a decade after Mello and Fire
made their discovery in 1997, trials using RNA interference, or
RNAi, to treat people are already underway. "