NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — A UK research institute will lead an €11.8-million ($16-million) research consortium that will study the potential uses for RNA interference in treating disease.
The Sainsbury Institute at the John Innes Center in Norwich said the European Commission-funded consortium will comprise 17 labs in nine European countries. The group will be called Silencing RNAs: Organizers and Coordinators of Complexity in Eukaryotic Organisms.
Researchers involved in the programs will study the uses of RNAi in plant and animal systems, including humans.
The Institute said it will use model systems that will allow scientists to conduct experiments it could not perform in humans, but that could translate into therapeutics.