Discuss “How Things Work: Gene Targeting”

Earlier this month, biologists Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies split the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on gene modification in mice.

The technique for which the three scientists are credited is called “gene targeting.” It is the favored method for creating “knockout mice.”

A knockout mouse is a genetically modified mouse that has had one of its genes purposely deactivated.

Once a gene is deactivated, scientists can make observations and determine the specific function of the gene.

As an analogy to gene deactivation, imagine walking into a room full of power sockets and light switches. Each socket is connected to a switch, and, initially, you do not know which socket corresponds to which switch.

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