This article is part of the supplement: Transposons in vertebrate functional genomics
Mutagenesis in rodents using the L1 retrotransposon
1 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
2 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
Genome Biology 2007, 8(Suppl 1):S16 doi:10.1186/gb-2007-8-s1-s16
Published: 31 October 2007Abstract
LINE1 (L1) retrotransposons are genetic elements that are present in all mammalian genomes. L1s are active in both humans and mice, and are capable of copying themselves and inserting the copy into a new genomic location. These de novo insertions occasionally result in disease. Endogenous L1 retrotransposons can be modified to increase their activity and mutagenic power in a variety of ways. Here we outline the advantages of using modified L1 retrotransposons for performing random mutagenesis in rodents and discuss several potential applications.
