ABSTRACT
Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
RNA interference (RNAi) is a recent technological advance that allows the reduction of the expression of a gene of interest at the posttranscriptional level.1-3 Initially
discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, its use has been extended to Drosophila embryos and cell lines, mammalian embryos and cell lines, plants, fungi, and eukaryotic pathogens such as trypanosomes.1,4 Recent findings indicate that RNA silencing is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that participates in the regulation of gene expression and that protects genomes from genomic parasites such as viruses and transposons.5
