Abstract: Methods using photothermal nanoparticles in rapid nucleic acid amplification and photothermal nanoparticles include forming a reaction mixture comprising a nucleic acid template, a polymerase enzyme, and a heating media. The heating media comprises a plurality of photothermal nanoparticles suspended in a solution, fabricated on a microchip, or on a surface of a well in a multi-well plate. The photothermal nanoparticles are nanoparticles having a particular geometric shape and comprise a single component or a multi-component. The plurality of photothermal nanoparticles are further categorized by surface plasmon resonance with a resonance wavelength in a particular range to convert energy absorbed from a light source to sufficiently heat a volume of a composition for the transcription of the new nucleic acid strand. The particular geometric shape of the photothermal nanoparticles is selected from the group consisting of: polyhedral, spheroid, torus, and hollow shapes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to gene-specific silencing through RNA interference, and in particular, to vectors for expressing RNAi molecules. In some embodiments, the present invention provides compositions and methods for inducible expression of RNAi molecules, and/or for long-term expression of RNAi molecules. Hence the compositions and methods described herein are suitable for regulatable and/or sustained gene-specific silencing in cells.