The promise of RNAi in honey bee health and research: 'Gene silencing is one of the hottest topics in science these days'

摘要

This author takes some pride in bringing to the readers of this magazine various "scoops" of scientific information they might not have heard before. I have done this recently in describing both epigenetics and Nosema ceranae. Now get ready to be indoctrinated in another technology that is coming on strong called RNAi. Gene silencing is one of the hottest topics in science these days. It is generally used to describe the "switching off of a gene by a mechanism other than genetic modification and is related to epigentics, the regulation of genes through environmental factors. A gene that would be expressed (turned on) under normal circumstances is in essence switched off in gene silencing.