Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Technology

Winning the rat race

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 4, page 492 (2003)Cite this article

However, this is about to change, as Zan et al., in Nature Biotechnology, describe an alternative approach, which they use to produce rat knockouts for the breast-cancer supressor genes Brca1 and Brca2 . Their innovative technique combines rat germline mutagenesis using N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) with yeast truncation assays that screen for functional mutations in selected genes.

Initially, male rats are mutagenized and bred with wild-type females. The F1 pups are then screened for functional mutations in the gene of interest, using two related yeast truncation assays — one based on genomic DNA and the other on RNA that has been reverse transcribed to cDNA.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Zan, Y. et al. Production of knockout rats using ENU mutagenesis and a yeast-based screening assay. Nature Biotechnol. (10.1038/nbt830)

FURTHER READING

  1. Jacob, H. J. & Kwitek, A. E. Rat genetics: attaching physiology and pharmacology to the genome. Nature Rev. Genet. 3, 33–42 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Victoria Kitchener
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kitchener, V. Winning the rat race. Nat Rev Genet 4, 492 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1117

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1117

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing