GARTNER, an American consultancy, has a simple yet elegant way of describing the life of a promising new technology. First, it is talked up to a peak of inflated expectations. Then it falls into a trough of disillusionment. After that, if it survives, it begins climbing the slope of enlightenment. Finally, it reaches the plateau of productivity.
In the world of biotechnology CRISPR/Cas9 (see article), is still ascending towards peak expectations. True to the Gartner hype-cycle, though, an earlier star, RNA interference, or RNAi, is well and truly in the trough. The chart alongside, of Google searches for the two technologies, shows this. The question is, can RNAi climb the slope of enlightenment to become a productive and useful technology? And the answer looks increasingly likely to be “yes”.
Like CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi is based on a bacterial response to viral infection. RNA is a molecule that is chemically similar to DNA, and does many jobs in cells. All these...Continue reading
Source: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1OF4QfO
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