Benjamin Tudor BIO 210: Introduction to Evolutionary Genetics 15 November 2011 Biotechnology and Genetics Gene Knockouts During

the process of gene replacement, a cloned gene can undergo a mutation and then replace the normal, un-mutated gene in an event known as a gene knockout. There has been a considerable amount of research relative to the importance of gene knockouts in the treatment of human disease. Currently, gene knockouts are being studied in mice, as they share many genes with humans. Knockouts are used to study disorders and diseases, such as deafness. Knockout collections are produced of organisms within the same species, where each genomic strain has a gene knocked out. Using this collection, researchers are able to look at the collection and determine whether which gene has been knocked out and what phenotypic expression represents the normal gene. Knockout collections are produced via transposable elements or homologous recombination. With transposable elements, they place themselves into a gene and tend to inactivate the overall function. This method has been extremely successful, with mice continuing to be studied, in hopes that a treatment for knockout-caused diseases will arrive soon. Reproductive Cloning Reproductive cloning is a broad term that defines the practice of producing two (or more) genetically identical individuals. Genetic clones begin in the same fertilized egg, where researchers can then remove the embryos in the earliest stages of development to separate the cells and implant them into a uterus, with the yield being multiple genetic clones. Because clones are derived from