Researchers at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) have generated a new genetic tool, called iSuRe-Cre, which allows scientists to ensure the success of genetic modifications made through Cre-lox technology , used in most of biomedical studies that seek to understand the function of genes.
The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications , in an article in which the authors explain the development, validation and applicability of this new genetic tool.
At present, the Cre-lox technology, implemented in 1994, is used in many of the research carried out in the field of biomedicine due to its usefulness when it comes to understanding genes, since it allows to eliminate or activate the function of any gene in the different cells of a mouse, an animal that is used as a model par excellence in many fields of this type of biomedical study – cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, etc. – . In this way, scientists have managed to better understand the function of any gene and its role in development, physiology and diseases as important and frequent among the population as those mentioned above.
Despite the great impact of this transcendental tool in biomedicine, many investigations have shown the need to be cautious with its use due to certain technical problems that have been associated with it . To overcome them, CNIC researchers have developed a new method that is innovative and is based on iSuRe-Cre, a new allele – each of the alternative forms of a gene that occupy the same place on homologous chromosomes and whose expression determines characteristics such as eye color. This increases the efficiency and reliability of genetic modifications.
Important for the scientific community
According to the researcher from Cadiz Macarena Fernández-Chacón, one of the scientists who participated in the study: “The development of this new genetic tool significantly changes the research projects that depend on Cre-lox technology, since now we can see and be sure where are the cells that have one or more deleted genes . ”In other words, iSuRe-Cre enables scientists to ensure that genetic modifications made through Cre-lox technology are successful.
For his part, the director of this research, the Portuguese Rui Benedito, who joined the National Center for Cardiovascular Research in 2012, adds that the new genetic tool generated at the CNIC will be of great interest to biomedical science, “already that significantly increases the ease, efficiency and reliability of genetic modifications made in the mouse , the model organism most used in biomedical research “
Image: CNIC
