Conventional Murine Gene Targeting

Murine gene knockout models engineered over the last two decades have continued to demonstrate their potential as invaluable tools in understanding the role of gene function in the context of normal human development and disease. The more recent elucidation of the human and mouse genomes through sequencing has opened up the capability to elucidate the function of every human gene. State-of-the-art mouse model generation allows, through a multitude of experimental steps requiring careful standardization, gene function to be reliably and predictably ablated in a live model system. The application of these standardized methodologies to directly target gene function through murine gene knockout has to date provided comprehensive and verifiable genetic models that have contributed tremendously to our understanding of the cellular and molecular pathways underlying normal and disease states in humans. The ensuing chapter provides an overview of the latest steps and procedures required to ablate gene function in a murine model.