In the initial stage of the study, we analysed the changes of differentially expressed genes before and after inhibiting the piRNA‐823 by gene expression profiling analysis, and the bioinformatics analysis revealed that the functional genes associated with glucose metabolism pathway significantly increased and decreased in piRNA‐823 overexpressed and inhibited colorectal cancer cells, suggesting that piRNA‐823 may affect the proliferation, invasion and apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells through the regulation of G6PD expression. The gene discussed is G6PD; the disease is colorectal cancer.