First there was gene therapy, then came RNA interference. Now the latest technology promising to regulate gene expression has been used therapeutically for the first time – if only in mice – to cut cholesterol levels. The technique, termed microRNA (miRNA) inhibition, has also been used to stop hepatitis C infecting cells.
It is related to earlier forms of RNA interference (RNAi), such as siRNA – in which a double-stranded “short interfering RNA” is used to intercept and destroy messenger RNA (mRNA) before it can be translated into protein. But unlike siRNA, which works to silence genes, miRNA inhibition increases the amount…
