Cyagen Biosciences

Abstract :  To truly study the function and mechanisms of gene expression, simple over-expression or constitutive knockouts are not completely sufficient; particularly when embryonic lethality can occur. To over come these limitations and better understand gene function, inducible, conditional, spatial, and temporal gene expression can be achieved through a variety of approaches. From tissue specific promoters to recombinase ba'gene switches', many tools are available to control when, where, and how genes of interest are expressed. In the early days of engineered animal models, simple knockout and transgenic mice were used to examine gene function. Researchers began to dissect the roles of individual genes by studying phenotypes of mice lacking or overexpressing specific genes. However, constitutive knockouts and transgenics are not adequate for analyzing the function of many genes. For example, genes with important functions in adult animals may be embryonic lethal when

Although humans and mice are separated by 100 million years of evolution, mouse and rat models have continually proven themselves as extremely powerful research tools. Many mouse and rat genetic models can even recapitulate complex and seemingly uniquely human phenotypes. A great example are mouse models of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which display many of the hallmark features of human ASD, including deficits in social communication and recognition, heightened anxiety, repetetive behavior, and hyperactivity. Recent work from several groups has taken advantage of ASD models to study autism and even develop potential treatments. Male-specific autism phenotypes in mice A striking feature of ASD is that more than 75% of diagnosed children are male. Although the reason for this sex-specific disparity is unknown, rodent models are beginningg to shed light on this aspect of the disorder. Using a contactin-associated protein-like 2 (Cntnap2) knockout mouse model for ASD, a group at th