gene silencing

The epigenome regulates nearly every process in the human body. By studying epigenetics, scientists have revealed some secrets to aging, cancer, and complex diseases.

Gene knockdown using RNAi enables gene function studies, with applications from pest control to biotherapeutics.

There are many techniques that allow scientists to silence a gene, but whether the effect is transient or permanent depends on the type of approach.

A study finds that XIST, the gene that shuts down one X chromosome in people who have two, is linked to cancer in males. 

A study probes how genetic duplications that can swell protein length influence human traits such as height and kidney function.

About one-quarter of the hundreds of genes on the inactivated X chromosome in XX cells manage to escape that silencing, at least some of the time.

When X-linked genes evade silencing on the “inactive” chromosome in XX cells, some protect women from diseases such as cancer, but others seem to promote conditions such as autoimmunity.

The Tel Aviv University researcher is interested in how the macromolecules affect the health and behavior of successive generations of worms.

The National Cancer Institute’s Amar Klar uncovered many of the intricacies of gene silencing and other heritable epigenetic alterations.

After initially discovering that DNA methylation represses transcription, Howard Cedar continues to explore how the epigenetic mark regulates gene expression.

Curing HIV means finding and eradicating viruses still lurking in the shadows.

Oxford researcher John Frater explains the strategy of targeting viral reservoirs to beat HIV.

Knocking down a single gene spurs pronounced secondary effects in the yeast genome.

A beginner’s how-to on RNAi screening in mammalian cells

Microscopic sponges made entirely of RNA enable efficient gene silencing.

Using RNA viruses to silence genes could optimize tissue targeting while reducing toxicity.

Scientists have found a way to reactivate a gene in mice that is silenced in a neurodevelopmental disorder called Angelman syndrome.