Recombineering: A powerful new tool for mouse functional genomics

Highly efficient phage-based Escherichia coli homologous recombination syst ems have recently been developed that enable genomic DNA in bacterial artif icial chromosomes to be modified and subcloned, without the need for restri ction enzymes or DNA ligases. This new form of chromosome engineering, term ed recombinogenic engineering or recombineering, is efficient and greatly d ecreases the time it takes to create transgenic mouse models by traditional means, Recombineering also facilitates many kinds of genomic experiment th at have otherwise been difficult to carry out, and should enhance functiona l genomic studies by providing better mouse models and a more refined genet ic analysis of the mouse genome.