What is RNA interference and what is its purpose?

RNAi is a phenomenon in which small pieces of RNA can shut down protein translation by binding to mRNAs that code for those proteins. it is a process ocurring naturally. its main application is gene silencing. this can be used to silence genes in certain diseases, to inibit viral RNA and prevent viral replication, to silence cancerous genes thereby preventing tumour growth or to enhance traits in crops and plants. it can also be used to create knock down models to identify functions of certain genes.