Template:September Biotechnology article

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Small interfering RNA (siRNA), are a class of 20-25 nucleotide-long RNA molecules that play a variety of roles in biology. Most notably, this is the RNA interference pathway (RNAi) where the siRNA interferes with the expression of a specific gene. While this article largely deals with siRNAs in the RNAi pathway, it should be noted that siRNAs play additional roles in RNAi-related pathways, e.g. as an antiviral mechanism or in shaping the chromatin structure of a genome; the complexity of these pathways is only now being elucidated. SiRNAs were first discovered by David Baulcombe's group in Norwich, England, as part of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants[1]. Shortly thereafter, in 2001, synthetic siRNAs were then shown to able to induce RNAi in mammalian cells by Thomas Tuschl and colleagues[2]. This discovery led to a surge in interest in harnessing RNAi for biomedical research and drug development.