I found this research totally fascinating also. It is very important in many ways. It shows the existence of double-stranded RNA, something not seen before. It also shows a new, very specific, gene suppressing agent. This is good for the organism, which can fix problems in an efficient manner. However, it also gives a tremendous help in genetic research. It enables us to 'disable' a gene and see what happens. It is much more efficient than other methods which is why it has been adopted so quickly by research firms. We can expect to see many new discoveries as a result of this technique in the near future.
Not to nitpick, but we've seen plenty of double-stranded RNA especially in viruses - have known about it for years. It's this "RNA-interference" that is new.