[Advances in the molecular mechanism of RNA interference]

This paper reviews the latest development of RNA interference(RNAi). RNA interference is the process of sequence-specific degradation of homologous mRNA triggered by double-stranded RNA. As a technically simple and an effective genetic tool which can exert effect on the expression of gene and substitute for gene knock-out technique in some degree, RNAi phenomena have been broadly validated in diverse model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Arabidopsis thaliana and Neurospora crassa. Simultaneously, study on molecular mechanism of RNAi, which might be involved in the level of post-transcription, translation, genome methylation or conduction of silencing signals, is now making unceasing progress. Clear elucidation of the molecular mechanism could provide important theoretical references and powerful tools for the practical application in this field where RNAi may be put into the use of systematic gene screening, the discovery of new genes and the gene therapy for human tumor or other refractory human diseases.