RNA interference

RNA interference is about the effects of specific genes being turned off. This occurs naturally in plants and animals alike. Recently, Americans Andrew Fire and Craig Mello won the Noble Prize this Monday for making this discovery about RNA.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/02/nobel.medicine.ap/index.html

This is very important since the "bad genes" such as mutant cancerous genes or high blood cholesterol genes could be just turned off and help cure many illnesses. If you want to read the full text on their paper published in Nature, go here:

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v391/n6669/full/391806a0_fs.html&content_filetype=pdf