RNAi Global closer to developing international standards for genome-wide siRNA library

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., May 24 - The Genome-Wide RNAi Global Initiative (RNAi Global), an alliance of Dharmacon, Inc. and 14 international research centers developing whole-genome RNAi screening, announced progress toward its goal of developing internationally accepted standards for conducting research using the first complete siRNA library.

Dharmacon said Genome-wide siRNA libraries have the potential to fundamentally change biological research and accelerate drug discovery and development.

However, experience with previous breakthrough technologies has shown that intra- and inter-laboratory variations are common at the outset and can limit the ultimate utility of early results, the company said in a news release.

The initial data presented at the second meeting of RNAi Global in Washington, D.C., in April demonstrated that without uniform standards, the results of experiments may not be comparable between laboratories.

The standardized RNAi screening experiment that each member conducted was part of the effort to propose standards that was discussed during the first meeting of RNAi Global last October. Researchers from the member institutions analyzed the results of the joint screening experiment and shared their insights and observations at the April meeting.

Now, they have begun discussing aspects of the proposed research protocols at select scientific conferences.

After collecting additional input from other experts in the field, RNAi Global representatives plan to publish a draft of the proposed standards in a peer-reviewed journal.

The membership of RNAi Global is expected to expand further as additional not-for-profit research institutions from North America, Europe and Asia join in the coming months, the release said.

RNAi Global is an alliance of international biomedical researchers, established to increase and accelerate the utility of human genome-wide siRNA libraries.

Dharmacon is a business unit within the Fisher Biosciences. Fisher Biosciences, a unit of Fisher Scientific International, Inc., based in Hampton, N.H., manufactures products in the general-chemistry and life-sciences arenas.

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