Abstract: Viruses are serious threats to human and animal health. Vaccines can prevent viral diseases, but few antiviral treatments are available to control evolving infections. Though it is only more than ten years since RNA interference (RNAi) has been discovered, we have had a clear picture of RNAi mechanism. RNAi is an effective means of suppressing virus replication in vitro, the progress has been achieved in studies of RNA interference mediated transgenic animals resistant to disease. At present, genetically modified sheep and cattle resistant to prion prote, as well as pig resistant to porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) and silkworm resistant to nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) have been achieved. Though most RNAi researches focus on cell lines and the available species of transgenic animals is limited, these researches provide a valid basis for the continued production of disease resistant transgenic animals. With the progress of transgenic technology, RNAi mediated transgenic breeding for disease resistance should be the most promising methods of reducing animal infectious diseases in the future.

Key words: animal, virus, transgene, breeding for disease resistance, RNA interference (RNAi)

摘要： 病毒对动物和人类健康都是极大的威胁,抗病毒疫苗虽然能在一定程度上预防病毒病,但目前几乎还不能对变异的传染病进行抗病毒治疗。尽管RNA干扰研究到目前才短短十几年,其作用机理已基本清楚。RNAi能够非常有效的抑制病毒体内复制,其介导的抗病转基因动物的研究相继取得了阶段性进展,抗疯牛病转基因羊和牛,抗内源性逆转录病毒猪以及抗核型多角体病毒病的转基因家蚕已经成功获得。尽管如此,目前的研究主要还是集中在细胞水平及小鼠模型方面,获得的转基因动物种类和数量有限,但为培育动物抗病毒品种提供了理论依据和技术支撑。随着转基因技术的不断的进步和成熟, RNA干扰技术将成为动物抗病毒育种中最有应用前景的方法之一。

关键词: 动物, 病毒, 转基因, 抗病育种, RNA干扰