TRANSGENIC MICE IN BASIC RESEARCH

What are transgenic mice and what do we learn from them? In this revie w, we focus on the generation of ''classical'' transgenic and ''knock- out'' mice. The establishment of transgenic and gene-targeted mice pro vides an unique tool to study the function(s) of a given gene in the c ontext of a whole organism. Eased on selected examples, we demonstrate the potential of this transgenic technology to understand the interac tions between cells, organs and organ systems in genetically engineere d mice.