Patent ID: 8263569

Claim:
A method of silencing a gene in cells which method comprises introducing into said cells a composition that consists essentially of isolated short antisense RNA molecules (SARMs) and isolated short sense RNA molecules (SSRMs), collectively short RNA molecules (SRMs), wherein the SSRMs and SARMs consist of 20-30 nucleotides; wherein said SARMs are complementary to, and can base pair with, a target RNA, which target RNA is transcribed from a gene that is silenced when said SRMs are present in a cell containing said gene, and said SSRMs correspond to the target RNA; and wherein said gene is endogenous to an organism selected from the group consisting of a plant, a mammal, an avian organism, a reptile, an insect, and a protozoan, or said target RNA is generated by a pathogen, whereby said gene is silenced.