Patent ID: 7893245

Claim:
A nucleic acid molecule comprising a first strand and a second strand, wherein said first strand comprises a first stretch that is complementary to a target nucleic acid, wherein said second strand comprises a second stretch that is the same length as said first stretch and is complementary to said first stretch, wherein said first strand and said second strand form a double-stranded structure comprising said first stretch and said second stretch, wherein said first stretch and said second stretch each comprises contiguous alternating single 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides, said single 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides alternate with unmodified or modified ribonucleotides and the 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides of said first strand are shifted by one ribonucleotide relative to the 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides of the second strand, and wherein each stretch consists of at least 17 and fewer than 30 ribonucleotides.