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Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern University, George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Photo by Bill Arsenault. 

DNA Blueprints Guide The Construction Of Specific Human Structures

Chad Mirkin discusses using DNA to build a three-dimensional structure out of gold, likening the process to building a house. Starting with basic materials such as bricks, wood, siding, stone and shingles, a construction team can build many different types of houses out of the same building blocks.
 
The article includes an audio recording of the full interview. Photo courtesy of the UCSD School of Medicine.
The Mouse: Important Model Organism Receives Increased Attention Print E-mail
Science - Genetics & Genome
TS-Si News Service   
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 16:30
Mouse (Mus Musculus), model organism
TS-Si Genetics And The Genome
Montreal, Quebec, CAN. Life on Earth didn't originate from a preexisting blueprint, but living things do have a basic architecture. Recent studies have shown that a great deal of the genome — inluding the non-coded (&q...
St. Louis, MO, USA. For years, scientists have struggled to decipher the genetic instruction book that details where and when the 20,000 genes in a human cell will be turned on or off. Different genes operate in each cell typ...
Los Angeles, CA, USA. Scientists have demonstrated for the first time the reversal of what is called epigenetic silencing, a major breakthrough in the developmental process.   Although nearly every cell in our body is ...
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. People are different, both physically and mentally, but genetically everyone is very similar. That's been the thought of scientists for decades now. But with population research becoming more and mo...
New Haven, CT, USA. The mouse is commonly used as a model organism in biomedical research. For example, a great deal of work has been done to figure out what a particular gene does in an organism. Scientists can replace the subject gene with a non-functional version and breed the individual, then look at the offspring to obseve the effects.
 
As a result of this and other techniques, the mouse has become a crucial part of scientific history through its contributions in understanding human genetics and disease. In a new review, genetics researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and Fudan University School of Life Sciences discuss the history and future of this important model organism.
 
The expanding role of mouse genetics for understanding human biology and disease. Duc Nguyen and Tian Xu. Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM) 1:56-66. doi: 10.1242 / dmm.000232 [ Download PDF ]
 
They predict that the next frontiers in mouse genetics — such as creating mice expressing human genes to create "humanized" mice — will continue to provide scientists with new tools to not only decipher clinical mysteries, but also to test novel therapies and cures. The full review us available from Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM).
 
The review's authors, Duc Nguyen and Tian Xu, discuss the many ways in which scientists manipulate mouse genes in order to study their biology. One such technique that Nguyen and Xu are working on involves inserting a segment of DNA sequence into the much lengthier full genome of the mouse.
 
These insertable DNA sequences are known as transposons. Their use, as well as other genetic tools, allows scientists to disrupt a specific mouse gene and deduce the gene's function by studying the effect on the mouse.
 
The hope is that the research community can combine the results of extensive mouse studies into a comprehensive library to form a functional map of the mouse genome. Such a map will help researchers navigate and explore the even more extensive human genome to pinpoint the genetic underpinnings of human disease.
 
Not only do the researchers discuss how mice help us understand disease, but they also highlight methods which enable research of novel disease therapies.
 
For example, humanized mice — mice engineered to carry human genes — can provide new experimental systems for testing new therapeutics.
 


The expanding role of mouse genetics for understanding human biology and disease. Duc Nguyen and Tian Xu. Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM) 1:56-66. doi: 10.1242 / dmm.000232 [ Download PDF ]

Abstract

It has taken about 100 years since the mouse first captured our imagination as an intriguing animal for it to become the premier genetic model organism. An expanding repertoire of genetic technology, together with sequencing of the genome and biological conservation, place the mouse at the foremost position as a model to decipher mechanisms underlying biological and disease processes. The combined approaches of embryonic stem cell-based technologies, chemical and insertional mutagenesis have enabled the systematic interrogation of the mouse genome with the aim of creating, for the first time, a library of mutants in which every gene is disrupted. The hope is that phenotyping the mutants will reveal novel and interesting phenotypes that correlate with genes, to define the first functional map of a mammalian genome. This new milestone will have a great impact on our understanding of mammalian biology, and could significantly change the future of medical diagnosis and therapeutic development, where databases can be queried in silico for potential drug targets or underlying genetic causes of illnesses. Emerging innovative genetic strategies, such as somatic genetics, modifier screens and humanized mice, in combination with whole-genome mutagenesis will dramatically broaden the utility of the mouse. More significantly, allowing genome-wide genetic interrogations in the laboratory, will liberate the creativity of individual investigators and transform the mouse as a model for making original discoveries and establishing novel paradigms for understanding human biology and disease.

 
TS-Si News ServiceThe TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
 
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 August 2008 15:23