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Nature 418, 379-380 (25 July 2002) | doi:10.1038/418379a
Medicine: Silencing viruses with RNA
Gordon G. Carmichael
Abstract
Our cells have a built-in mechanism for 'silencing' genes, called RNA interference. This capability has now been exploited to protect cells in culture dishes from HIV-1 and poliovirus.
Until recently, the two major ways to combat viral infections were vaccines and drugs that are targeted to specific viral enzymes or other viral proteins. Papers on pages 430 and 435 of this issue1, 2, and another published earlier this month in Nature Medicine3, provide a significant new strategy — one that targets viral genomes and the messenger RNA molecules they encode.
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