Short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) are synthetic RNA molecules that can silence gene expression through a process known as RNA interference (RNAi). They are designed to form a tight, stem-loop structure which is processed by the cellular machinery into short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These siRNAs then guide the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to degrade complementary mRNA targets, effectively "knocking down" specific gene expression.
