RNA Interference (RNAi): Application in Crop Improvement

Abstract

RNA Interference (RNAi) is one of the most important technological breakthroughs in current biology. RNAi mechanism has the potential in identification and functional assessment of thousands genes within any genome that is responsible for crop improvement. RNAi technology provides an efficient means for blocking expression of a specific gene and evaluating its response to chemical compounds. It is a powerful experimental tool in reverse genetics and this technique has wide spread future applications in medicine. RNAi is a unique strategy to regulate gene expression for better quality attributes and nutritional development in many crops and it has been widely employed in diverse species to suppress gene activity. This technology may go a long way to narrow the gap through production of disease, insect and virus resistant, nutritionally rich and toxic-free crops. In the end, this type of technology could be critical to global food security and sustainability.