Nucleic acid drugs: a novel approach

Nucleic acid base sequence of proteins plays a crucial role in the expression of gene. The gene is responsible for the synthesis of proteins and these proteins, which are synthesized, are responsible for the biological process and also for dreadful diseases as well. Once if the nucleic acid sequence is altered, we would be able to block or transfer the message for protein synthesis, there by preventing the particular protein, which is responsible for the disease. These nucleic acids act as drugs by different mechanisms, they may bind with the synthesized proteins, and they can hybridize to a messenger RNA leading to translation arrest or may induce degradation to target RNA. In this way the nucleic acids act as drug for inhibiting gene expression or protein synthesis. This article examines about the different types of nucleic acid drugs, their mechanisms, advantages, drawbacks and their future prospects. Key Words: Aptamers, ribozymes, antisense oligonucleotides. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(12) 2004: 662-66