siRNA is short for small interfering RNA and acts to 'silence' a gene. It's short as its name suggests, they're usually only around 21 nucleotides long. They're also double stranded. This means that they are made up of a series of two complementary base pairs.
siRNA is called "interfering" because it disrupts translation (a part of protein synthesis which takes place within the cytoplasm). The siRNA and accosiated proteins bind to target mRNA
proteins cut mRNA into sections so it cant be translated.
siRNA prevents expression of the specific gene as its protein cant be made during translation so the protein isn't made.
No comments:
Post a Comment