Question

RNA interference is a mechanism of gene regulation in eukaryotes. Arrange the steps by which RNAi carries out gene regulation in the correct order.

Answer 1

There is a mechanism of the cells that helps destroy foreign RNA, for example viral RNA. If the RNA is double stranded, a protein called Dicer cleaves the dsRNA to form siRNA (3), small RNA of lenght around 23 nucleotides. Then, the two strands of the siRNA are separated (1). Afterwards, one strand forms the RNA complex that is called RISC (2). The final step is (4); the complex attaches to a duplicate of the strand that was discarded and destroys it. Then, it is free to attach to another foreign RNA and continue its function.