Functional Genomic Analysis of C. elegans Using RNA Interference Essay

IntroductionBefore we talk about this grievous experiment, do you know what a roundworm is?Specifically, this experiment used Caenorhabditis elegans, C. elegans for short. C. elegans is a little worm (just like the kind you retrieve in the ground), merely has a very special place in modern biochemistry scientists fool mapped its entire genomic sequence.This sequence lets scientists know the character and location of all C. elegans genes. However, biochemists do non yet fully understand what each gene does and the polish of this experiment is to find the involvement of each gene within the worm. The affiliation between a worms genotype and phenotype is important, because, believe it or not, human beings and worms theatrical role many of the same genes. Scientists can use information about nematode genes and their phenotypic side (the worms physical traits) to better understand how human genes function in the body.The researchers who performed this study fed the worms double stranded ribonucleic acid that encodes for a particular gene. The cells of the nematodes body recognize the double stranded RNA as foreign genetic material and delete all proteins associated with that RNA. Therefore, the C. elegans will not express the targeted gene, and in its absence, scientists can identify the normal phenotypic expression of that gene. For example, if the inhibited gene was supposed to create raised eyes in the nematode, then the organism would not have raised eyebrows, because it cannot manufacture the proteins that hit this trait physically possible.This experiment inhibits the majority of C. elegans genes in an effort to find what each gene does in the organism. The C. elegans is an ideal species to use in this butt because it grows and... ...nucleic acid interference. RNAi uses fragments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) which induces the degradation of mRNA. Hopefully, one is put downning to see the similarities of the functions of RNAi and antisense phar maceuticals. I have mentioned before that antisense drugs work by temporarily inhibiting the mRNA from manufacturing item proteins. Future RNAi technology could be used to permanently degrade the mRNA. This is not only an exciting possibility it is a near-future reality. Isis Pharmaceuticals has already five antisense drugs in clinical trails Who knows when they or another pharmaceutical company will begin to utilize RNAiReferencesAhringer, J., Fraser, A.G., Kamath, R.S., Martinez-Campos, M., Sohrmann, Marc., Zipperlen, Peder. Functional genomic analysis of C. elegans chromosome I by systematic RNA interference. Nature 2000 408 325-330.