'RNA interference (RNAi)' technology has gained popularity in the last few years. Why?
- 1.It is used in developing gene silencing therapies.
- 2.It can be used in developing therapies for the treatment of cancer.
- 3.It can be used to develop hormone replacement therapies.
- 4.It can be used to produce crop plants that are resistant to viral pathogens.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 4
RNA interference is a natural process in which a small RNA switches off a specific gene, so it is used for gene-silencing therapies, is being developed for cancer, and can make plants resist viruses. It is a way of switching genes off, not of supplying a hormone, so statement 3 does not fit.
- ✓ 1. Synthetic small interfering RNAs use RNAi to modulate gene function. The world's first RNAi drug, for a rare genetic liver disorder, has been approved.
- ✓ 2. Anticancer RNAi drugs are in development and have reached early clinical trials, although delivering them to tissues other than the liver remains a challenge.
- ✗ 3. Hormone replacement therapy supplies a hormone the body lacks. RNAi works by silencing a specific gene or mRNA, so it is not the basis of such therapies.
- ✓ 4. Plants can be engineered to carry sequences that target viral genes, so that RNAi silences the invading virus. NCERT notes that RNAi is a cellular defence that can be triggered by infection with RNA-genome viruses, and describes transgenic RNAi used to make plants resistant to a nematode pest.
Remember · RNAi silences a specific mRNA. Uses: gene-silencing drugs, cancer therapies under development, and virus-resistant crops; it does not supply hormones.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Biology, Ch 10 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Biology, Ch 10 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Biology, Ch 10 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 10 “RNAi takes place in all eukaryotic organisms as a method of cellular defense. This method involves silencing of a specific mRNA due to a complementary dsRNA molecule that binds to and prevents translation of the mRNA (silencing).”
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 10 “The source of this complementary RNA could be from an infection by viruses having RNA genomes or mobile genetic elements (transposons) that replicate via an RNA intermediate.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 10 “The consequence was that the parasite could not survive in a transgenic host expressing specific interfering RNA.”
- Mary Ann Liebert / NIH PMC, RNA Interference-Based Cancer Drugs: The Roadblocks, and the Delivery of the Promise, abstract ↗ “Nucleic acid-based therapeutics like synthetic small interfering RNAs have been exploited to modulate gene function, taking advantage of RNA interference (RNAi), an evolutionally conserved biological process. Recently, the world's first RNAi drug was approved for a rare genetic disorder in the liver. … In this study, we discuss the critical design considerations in anticancer RNAi drug development, insights gained from initial clinical trials”
- RNA Interference: Promising Approach to Combat Plant Viruses (NIH PMC), abstract ↗ “This natural RNAi pathway could introduce transgenes targeting various viral genes to induce gene silencing.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·