Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., of the University of Utah, has won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The prize recognize
s Capecchi's pioneering work on knockout mouse technology, a gene-targeting technique that has revolutionized genetic and biomedical research, allowing the creation of animal models for hundreds of human diseases. Capecchi devised a way to change or remove any single gene in the mouse genome, creating strains of mice that then pass the altered gene to offspring. In the years since, these knockout mice have become commonplace in the laboratory. YOUR GOAL: You are studying how a particular gene, named Insom, might play a role in insomnia. You want to study mice with this gene turned off. To knockout the Insom gene you will
A) replace it with a mutated, inactive copy of Insom.
B) destroy the mouse DNA with chemotherapy.
C) radiate the DNA, hoping for mutations.
D) kill the mouse and examine its DNA.
Gene targeting or gene replacement strategy is defined as a genetic technique that involves use of homologous recombination and replacement of a gene with another gene. It can be used for the removal of exons, deletion of a gene, or addition of new gene.
Gene knockout shows removal or exchange of a gene with a inactive or mutated copy of that gene to create individual with a new trait. Therefore, to turn off the gene Insom, the original Insom gene will be replace with a mutated, inactivated copy of Insom.
The correct answer is letter A, replace it with a mutated, inactive copy of Insom.
In order to determine malfunctions in DNA structures, it is sometimes better to replace these coded in the DNA in order for the cell to mutate and adhere to the changes in its environment.
