Andrew Fire

Andrew Fire is an American molecular biologist who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering RNA interference.

Craig Mello: Craig Mello is an American biologist who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering RNA interference. Fire and Mello jointly demonstrated that double-stranded RNA can silence genes.
RNA interference: RNA interference is gene silencing triggered by small RNA molecules that guide cellular machinery to complementary RNA. Fire’s defining discovery showed that double-stranded RNA can initiate this process.
Nature (journal): Nature is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research across the natural sciences. Fire and Mello reported their landmark RNA-interference findings in Nature in 1998.
Small interfering RNA: Small interfering RNA is a short double-stranded RNA molecule that guides sequence-specific gene silencing. The discovery led to synthetic molecules that reproduce RNA interference in experiments.
Sydney Brenner: Sydney Brenner was a biologist whose research helped establish the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. Fire trained in Brenner’s influential C. elegans research environment.
Double-stranded RNA: Double-stranded RNA consists of two complementary RNA strands paired together. Fire and Mello found it silenced genes far more effectively than either strand alone.
Post-transcriptional gene silencing: Post-transcriptional gene silencing reduces gene expression by acting on RNA after transcription. Plant and fungal studies had revealed related silencing phenomena before Fire’s experiment.
RNA therapeutics: RNA therapeutics use RNA molecules or RNA-targeting mechanisms to prevent or treat disease. RNA interference inspired efforts to silence disease-associated genes with designed molecules.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is an annual award for discoveries that advance understanding of life or medicine. Fire received this prize with Mello in 2006 for RNA interference.
Caenorhabditis elegans: Caenorhabditis elegans is a small nematode widely used in genetics and developmental biology. Fire and Mello tested gene silencing in this organism.

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