Patent ID: 8415526

Claim:
An isolated nucleic acid fragment comprising the deoxyribonucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:14 wherein (i) nucleotides 110 to 130 of SEQ ID NO:14 are replaced by a first variable nucleotide subsequence ranging in size from 19 to 24 nucleotides depending upon the target sequence whose expression is to be reduced, (ii) nucleotides 184 to 203 of SEQ ID NO:14 are replaced by a second variable nucleotide subsequence ranging in size from 19 to 24 nucleotides, said second variable nucleotide subsequence being capable of hybridizing to the first variable subsequence of the precursor miRNA, and (iii) a precursor miRNA produced by said isolated nucleic acid fragment has the same stem structure as a precursor miRNA produced by endogenous SEQ ID NO:14.