The present invention provides novel compositions and methods for
suppressing the expression of a targeted gene using mRNA-cDNA duplexes.
The invention further provides novel methods and compositions for
generating amplified mRNA-cDNA hybrids, whose quantity is high enough to
be used for the invention's gene silencing transfection. This improved
RNA-polymerase chain reaction method uses thermocycling steps of
promoter-linked double-stranded cDNA or RNA synthesis, in vitro
transcription and then reverse transcription to amplify the amount of
mRNA-cDNA hybrids up to two thousand folds within one round of the above
procedure.