What is RNA interference and how is it used to protect plants?

RNA interference is a cellular defence in which double-stranded RNA silences a specific messenger RNA by causing its degradation, so the protein is never made. In tobacco plants attacked by the nematode Meloidogyne incognita, genes producing complementary RNA are introduced so that a double-stranded RNA forms and silences an essential nematode gene, and the parasite cannot survive.

No citable source has been recorded for this record. Treat it as practice material, not as fact.

Explanation

The plant itself is unaffected because the silenced sequence is specific to the parasite.