Design of expression cassettes for the generation of transgenic animals (including insulators)
1Département de Physiologie Animale, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Nouzilly, France.
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|December 17, 2009
Abstract:
The use of transgenesis is relatively rare in rats, and this is because of the relative difficulty in adding foreign genes by the conventional methods. Gene knock out and knock in by the conventional techniques of homologous recombination remain difficult in rats. This situation would be less crucial if the gene constructs were more reliable for the expression of foreign genes. The present chapter describes the state of the art in vector design for various genetic modifications in rats.
Related Concept Videos
Transgenic Organisms
Overview
In-vitro Mutagenesis
To learn more about the function of a gene, researchers can observe what happens when the gene is inactivated or “knocked out,” by creating genetically engineered knockout animals. Knockout mice have been particularly useful as models for human diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes.


