miRNA Resource. Breaking report.

There are functional and practical at-the-bench connections between RNAi as a technique and the biology of miRNAs. So I try to keep aware of what's happening in the miRNA world, particularly when it comes to new tools. The DRSC makes some miRNA reagents available (e.g. UAS-miRNAs) and miRNA resource collections have been published by various groups. This report describes a new set of tools for interrogating miRNA function.

Schertel1 et al. (2012) in Genetics. Functional Characterization of Drosophila microRNAs by a Novel in vivo Library.  The PubMed citation was not available at the time of this posting. This link should take you to the relevant page at Genetics.

Caution! For in vivo RNAi ageing studies. Recent report.

On my desk to read today? This open access paper reporting effects of in vivo Drosophila RNAi that can confound studies on aging.

Alic N, Hoddinott MP, Foley A, Slack C, Piper MD, Partridge L. Detrimental Effects of RNAi: A Cautionary Note on Its Use in Drosophila Ageing Studies. PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e45367. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045367. PubMed PMID: 23028964.

Then & Now: Jak/Stat screening. Breaking report.

Fisher KH, Wright VM, Taylor A, Zeidler MP, Brown S. Advances in genome-wide RNAi cellular screens: a case study using the Drosophila JAK/STAT pathway. BMC Genomics. 2012 Sep 24;13(1):506. PubMed PMID: 23006893.

Genome RNAi group releases a version 9.0

Esther Schmidt and the GenomeRNAi team just announced a version 9 of their GenomeRNAi online database. Here's a link to their news item on the release.

DIOPT-DIST updated for 'fuzzy' search

The "disease full text search" field at the DRSC's only tool DIOPT-DIST, which is useful for matching up fly (or other model system) genes to human genes associated with diseases or traits, is now more forgiving of misspellings. Trying different synonyms for a given disease is still a good idea. Another tip:  On the search results page, click the DIOPT score to get a protein alignment.

Breaking Report: Cell-basd RNAi protocol

Ravi D, Bishop AJ. Identification of Genes Required for Damage Survival Using a Cell-Based RNAi Screen Against the Drosophila Genome. Methods Mol Biol. 2012;920:9-26. PubMed PMID: 22941593.

Appeal for support letters -- FlyAtlas

The authors of FlyAtlas are appealing for email letters of support as they apply for a new round of funding. If you're a FlyAtlas user, please consider voicing your support. At the DRSC and TRiP, we have seen the resource useful to researchers at both planning and analysis stages. As of this posting, the appeal for email letters of support is on their home page.