Two bioscience companies together (Ambion and Cenix Bioscience) have just released a new RNA interference (RNAi) library based on the Drosophila genome. Laboratories that buy this library get more than 13,000 double-stranded RNA molecules (dsRNAs) that are ready for immediate use in experiments without having to do any other preparation.

RNAi is described in this press release as one of the “best new functional genomics screening tool to identify and validate new therapeutic drug targets.”

If you don’t happen to be a biologist, you may remember your high school biology class in which you learned that the Drosophila fly (the fruit fly and varieties) reproduces at an amazing rate. It’s not surprising then that it’s so useful for researching the behavior of genes. And how fascinating that they can now produce “libaries” of synthetic genetic material–they don’t have to grow huge colonies of flies and manually extract the stuff. No wonder science is making such huge advances so much faster nowadays.