Even though you have no idea, every single minute of every single day your cells communicate with each other. Scientists have been trying to find a way that could make these message become silent in order for them to discover what a gene's role in a cell is. Eight years ago, scientists found a way to mute these genes. This technique is known as RNAi, or RNA Interference. This process mutes the genes from 90% to 95% so that the scientists can understand their role in the cell. Some other scientists use this technique to develop potential treatments for disease including macular degeneration, AIDS, and Huntington's disease.
This process of understanding the genes in your cells is a great idea because we need treatments to these diseases. It would also be more helpful if we fully understood what each gene was used for and why it's in the cell. Scientists have come up with many ways to understand this, but the RNAi is the only technique that has worked. This was an interesting story to read and I hope that it works for them. (:
