Balanced translocations for the analysis of imprinted regions of the mouse genome

Experimental studies that investigate the functional and mechanistic properties of an imprinted locus require material in which the two parental chromosome homologs can be easily distinguished. The use of animals with uniparental duplications and deficiencies of imprinted regions of interest is one powerful approach. This material not only allows the successful analysis of the monoallelic expression and genome modifications associated with imprinting, but also is useful for studying the developmental roles of imprinted genes through the analysis of conceptuses in which the dosage of imprinted genes has been perturbed (1-3).