Use of transgenic and knockout strategies in mice

Over 2 decades ago mouse models were generated with an exogenous gene integrated into its genome to create the first transgenic mice. Since that time, new methods have been developed and old methods improved, allowing investigators more flexibility to answer important questions about physiology and gene function. Transgenic and knockout technology have been particularly useful in the kidney as various transgenic mouse models have been successfully generated to gain a better understanding of renal physiology at the gene level. Now with the sequencing of mammalian genomes at the forefront of science, the need for transgenic technology to understand gene function in the context of the whole animal will become increasingly more important. Therefore, this article focuses on some of the strategies that can be used when generating transgenic mouse models.