RNAi and brain function: was McConnell on the right track?

RNA interference (RNAi), one of the hottest topics of molecular biology res earch today, has unique features that are eerily reminiscent of the phenome non of 'RNA-mediated memory transfer: a controversial line of work that was investigated with great enthusiasm in the 1960s. If not a coincidence, the n this suggests taking a new look at RNA-mediated modulation of neural func tion and raises the possibility that RNAi might be one of the physiologic m echanisms that regulate long-term gene expression in the brain.