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Nature 411, 834-842 (14 June 2001) | doi:10.1038/35081168

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review article Gene silencing as an adaptive defence against viruses

Peter M. Waterhouse1, Ming-Bo Wang1 & Tony Lough2

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Gene silencing was perceived initially as an unpredictable and inconvenient side effect of introducing transgenes into plants. It now seems that it is the consequence of accidentally triggering the plant's adaptive defence mechanism against viruses and transposable elements. This recently discovered mechanism, although mechanistically different, has a number of parallels with the immune system of mammals.