He also warned that PKC had been linked to the development of certain types of cancer.

BBC: Scientists boost memory power

Chemo drugs killed the tumor, while antisense went to its roots, blocking the production of PKC-alpha proteins.

FORBES: Antisense and Sensibility

When Isis' antisense strand latched on there, it activated an enzyme that destroys the RNA that codes for PKC-alpha.

FORBES: Antisense and Sensibility

The goal was to jam the works by synthesizing an antisense strand of DNA to gum up the RNA section that codes for PKC-alpha.

FORBES: Antisense and Sensibility

Previous experiments have also shown that modifying PKC levels to which a developing embryo is exposed could have an impact on subsequent behaviour after birth.

BBC: Scientists boost memory power

He tested the compound against 80 different RNAsites until he found its perfect match: a 20-unit strip of nucleotides adjacent to the RNA coding region for PKC-alpha.

FORBES: Antisense and Sensibility

Professor Seth Grant, an expert in the molecular mechanism of learning and memory at Edinburgh University, told BBC News Online that PKM was a particular version of an enzyme called protein kinase C (PKC) that had long been implicated in learning.

BBC: Scientists boost memory power