Molecular analysis of Hepatitis B Virus silencing with siRNA

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4. Molecular analysis of Hepatitis B Virus silencing with siRNA Supervisors: Dr Joseph Torresi, Theo Gouskos Location: Department of Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital Contact details: Telephone 8344 3262, 8344 3267 Email [email protected] [email protected]

There are 350 million people chronically infected with hepatitis B virus. The emergence of viruses resistant to nucleoside analogues used to treat chronic hepatitis B infection may undermine the long-term efficacy of currently available therapeutic options. Small Inhibitory RNA (siRNA) has emerged as a powerful molecular gene silencing technique in recent times that could provide an alternative means of therapy. The aim of this project is to use siRNA to silence hepatitis B virus gene expression in vitro.

Skills: Molecular biology; Cloning; Cell culture; Transfection of mammalian cells in culture; Southern blot hybridization; Northern blot hybridization; PCR; Real Time PCR; DNA sequencing