Research into the use of RNA interference (RNAi) to “silence” gene activity is picking up steam (see our story two weeks ago about Alnylam’s RNAi-based treatment for RSV), but it’s still very difficult just to get RNAi agents inside cells, where they can actually do their jobs. Today Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher Scientific unveiled a new agent that it says can be absorbed by cultured cells directly “without the use of conventional delivery methods such as transfection reagents, viruses or electroporation.” Such an agent could significantly speed any biomedical or pharmaceutical research project in which RNAi is used to shut off specific genes, according to Thermo.
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
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