中文摘要：

RNA干扰（RNA interference，RNAi）是一种新兴的基因阻断技术，它通过双链RNA分子的介导，特异降解相应序列的mRNA，从而导致转录后水平的基因沉默，自1998年首次报道以来已取得了重大研究进展。迄今，在果蝇、线虫、锥虫及一些哺乳动物中都相继发现存在RNAi现象，提示其具有进化保守性。近8年来，研究者对RNAi现象进行了广泛、深入的探索研究，预示RNAi有望成为今后分析人类基因功能的有力工具，并将在人类疾病的基因表达显像和治疗方面发挥重要作用。

英文摘要：

RNA interference （RNAi） is a new genetic interference technology, which specially degradates the corresponding sequence mRNA by the mediate of double-stranded RNA （dsRNA） to induce the post-transcriptional gene silencing （PTGS）. Since the first report of RNAi in 1998, there has been a great deal of significant progress. Up to now, RNAi phenomena have been discovered one after another in drosophila, edlworm, trypanosomatid and some mammalians, indicating the evolution conservatism. From the studies about RNAi in the past eight years, it is concluded that RNAi will be the powerful technology for human genome analysis and play an important role in gene expression imaging and gene therapy of human diseases.