(AGI) - Laucerne, Switzerland, March 14

A team of Swiss researchers has managed to use 'molecular scissors' to extinguish the activity of genes that cause lateral amyotrophic sclerosis in mice.

The research, published online by Nature Medicine, is based on the practical use on animals of the so-called 'RNA interference'. It is a mechanism that protects the cells against invasion by external viruses: it blocks the transmission of the genetic code necessary for the synthesis of a protein inside the cell.

Swiss researchers, belonging to the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Laucerne, introduced small RNA sequences into mice modified to have the genetic mutation that causes the illness. These sequences are joined with the RNA messenger of the nerve cells (which has the job of bringing the genetic messages from the cell nucleus to the 'protein factory'), making it recognise the cell as faulty. In this way the mutated gene no longer managed to produce the protein SOD1, toxic for nerve cells in the mouse's dorsal spine.

At the same time, researchers led by Cedric Raoul, also managed to transmit a correct copy of the gene via a genetically modified virus. As a result, not only did the cells produce no more toxic protein, but also they produced the normal form of the protein.