Overview
RNA interference is rapidly emerging as a integral tool to the study of the physiological role of gene products. RNAi-based methods allow researchers to modulate and in many cases dramatically reduce expression of a gene of interest. Systems for delivering RNAs into cells for the purpose of gene silencing include standard transfection technologies as well as plasmid and viral systems for the inducible expression of siRNAs in vivo.

The Gene Silencing Dashboard™ was developed from responses to a 36-question survey completed by 367 scientists predominantly located in North America and Europe. This Dashboard reveals key market indicators for the gene silencing market as a whole as well as for the following methods representing market sub-segments:

• RNAi screens using siRNA libraries (sets of 50 or more siRNAs)
• Inducing siRNAs in vivo from a plasmid or other vector in cells
• Delivering synthetic siRNAs into cells
• Digesting long dsRNA in vivo using dicer or other enzymes
• Expressing siRNA in vitro for delivery into cells
• Using PCR mediated siRNA expression cassettes to generate siRNAs
• Delivering siRNAs into cells by transfection
• Delivering siRNAs into cells by electroporation
• Delivering siRNAs into cells by viral infection
• Using a reporter systems to track gene knockdown

In order to dive more deeply into the characteristics and dynamics of the market for gene silencing products, Percepta has introduced the Gene Silencing Dashboard™, designed to take a snapshot of the current market landscape with the future goal of repeating and publishing the study to give Dashboard readers the ongoing story of how the market is adapting to new products, new competitors and new sales and marketing strategies.

Survey Methodology
In November/December of 2006, Percepta fielded three surveys to our panel of active life scientists:

• Nucleic Acid Purification and Amplification Survey
• Gene Silencing and Gene Expression Profiling Survey
• Mammalian Transfection and Cell Culture Survey

This report reveals the results of the Gene Silencing section of the Gene Silencing and Gene Expression Profiling Survey. The results of the Gene Expression Profiling portion of the survey as well as the other two studies are available as separate Life Science Dashboard™ publications. Contact Percepta for more information on these additional reports.

Individuals were invited by e-mail blast to click through to a webpage at bioanalytix.com where the survey was hosted. Invitations were delivered on November 13, 2006 and results collected through December 8. A total of 367 scientists completed the survey, of which 162 are actively engaged in performing RNAi/siRNA experiments.

Respondent Demographics
Respondents from the academic, government and commercial market segments are well represented, with approximately 18% of respondents employed in an industry setting. About 78% of respondents are from North America, while 18% reside in Europe.

Junior (Lab Tech, Grad Students), mid level (Post-Doc, Lab Manager) and senior (Professor/PI, Group Leader) scientists are well represented in the data set, with the most cited job titles being Scientist/Senior Scientist (21.3% of respondents) and Post-Doctoral Fellow (19.1%).

A wide variety of scientific areas of specialization is also evident, led by cell biology (named by 17.3% of respondents as their primary area of expertise) and biochemistry (named by 16.2% of respondents). Immunology (8.5%), microbiology/ infectious disease/ virology (7.9%) and genomics (7.9%) are the only other applications named by more than 5% of respondents.

Small (1-5 scientists), medium (6-20 scientists) and large (>20 scientists) laboratories are well represented: 32.3% of respondents work in labs where 1 to 5 people perform experiments; 52.7% in labs with 6 to 20 experimenters, and the remaining 15.0% in labs with greater than 20 bench scientists.