Small RNAs: what makes a plant, a plant

了解小RNA及其通路的作用是一个年轻的研究领域，它正在并将继续深入了解多细胞生物如何在基因组水平上调节基因表达。这一领域的研究已经导致了RNA干扰技术，通过这种技术几乎可以关闭任何基因，并且还有相当大的潜力出现其他基因沉默和性状修饰技术。该项目将深入了解基本生物过程，预计将在农业和生物技术中产生应用。它将保持和加强澳大利亚在这一领域的地位。

Understanding the roles of small RNAs and their pathways is a young field of research that is giving, and will continue to give, profound insights into how multicellular organisms regulate gene expression at a genomic level. Research in this area has already led to RNA interference technology, by which almost any gene can be switched off, and there is considerable potential for other gene silencing and trait modification technologies to emerge. The project will yield insights into fundamental biological processes which are expected to engender applications in agriculture and biotechnology. It will maintain and enhance Australia's position in this area.