Once in a while you hear of ground-breaking research. One of my officemates just showed me an announcement of her son’s recent isolation of a ‘silencer’ gene.
Unbelievable. The Nobel Prize awaits. Click and see. Amazing.
Scientists find the structure of a key ‘gene silencer’ protein
Scripps Research Institute scientists have found the structure of Argonaute2, which can effectively “silence” a gene by intercepting and slicing the gene’s RNA transcripts before they are translated into working proteins. Credit: Image courtesy of the MacRae lab, the Scripps Research Institute.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein that is centrally involved in regulating the activities of cells. Knowing the precise structure of this protein paves the way for scientists to understand a process known as RNA-silencing and to harness it to treat diseases.
The Subversive Archaeologist 
