Date:	November 13th, 2009
Time:	10.00 - 12.00
Venue site:	Biocenter Seminar room 1-2-03 on the 2nd floor Ole Maaløes Vej 5, Copenhagen 2200
Host:	Cord Brakebusch, PhD, Prof., BRIC Partner NorIMM (Nordic Infrastructure for Mouse Models)
Speaker:	Phil Simmons, Product Manager Sigma Advanced Genetic Engineering (SAGE) Labs, St. Louis, US

Register here to this FREE seminar!

Background :
Creation of Knockout Rats:  A New Paradigm for Target Validation and Preclinical Development

The rat has long been an important experimental model in many fields of study, and the rodent model of choice in many areas of research including toxicology, neurobiology, cardiovascular disease, and inflammation.  Unlike its murine cousin, gene targeting in the rat has remained a near impossibility, with researchers relying instead on completely random methods of mutagenesis, such as ENU and Transposon-based manipulation.

Zinc Finger Nuclease technology is a powerful tool for the targeted manipulation of genomes and has been utilized successfully in vitro for a broad array of applications.  As published in the July 24, 2009 issue of Science, we have now taken this technology (CompoZr®) and applied it to an in vivo setting.  We report herein the creation of a number of “knockout” rats where a gene has been effectively removed, in a targeted fashion, from the genome.  Furthermore, we explore the potential for addition or humanization of the rat genome through targeted “knockin” of genes.