Related Experiment Videos
Identifying genes for neurobehavioural traits in rodents: progress and pitfalls
1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK abaud@ebi.ac.uk JFlint@mednet.ucla.edu.
Disease Models & Mechanisms
|April 7, 2017
Summary
Researchers are identifying genes linked to neurobehavioral traits in rodents. New tools like CRISPR/Cas are helping pinpoint causal genes within quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for psychiatric research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Psychiatric Research
Background:
- Identifying genes and pathways for neurobehavioral traits is crucial in psychiatric research.
- Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified in rodents, but pinpointing causal genes remains challenging due to large QTL sizes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review studies using advanced rodent resources for mapping phenotypes to narrow genetic intervals.
- To highlight insights into neurobehavioral traits gained from these studies.
- To discuss challenges and propose solutions for translating QTLs into biological knowledge.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent studies utilizing specific mouse and rat resources.
- Analysis of approaches for mapping phenotypes to narrow genetic intervals.
- Discussion of the role of CRISPR/Cas genome-editing technology.
Main Results:
- Recent studies have successfully narrowed down QTLs to a few candidate genes.
- These advancements provide valuable insights into the genetic underpinnings of neurobehavioral traits.
- CRISPR/Cas technology is presented as a key tool for experimental validation and functional characterization.
Conclusions:
- Translating QTLs into biological knowledge requires experimental validation and functional characterization of candidate genes.
- CRISPR/Cas genome editing offers a powerful solution to overcome current obstacles in gene discovery.
- Re-evaluation of inbred versus outbred resources is warranted given technological and resource developments.