CEREBELLAR MUTANT MICE AND CHIMERAS REVISITED

Neurological mutant mice have yielded an early and continuously rich r esource for studying the role of genes in the developing cerebellum. E xperimentally produced chimeric mice, containing mixtures of genetical ly normal and mutant cells, provided a means of deducing the primary s ite of gene action and studying cell interactions in these mutant cere bella. Recently, three mutant genes, reeler, weaver, and staggerer, ha ve been cloned and their gene products identified. These three genes h ave been examined earlier by the chimera technology. Here, we review t he chimera studies in the Light of what we now know to be the products of these mutant genes.