What is a knockout mouse?

Learn how scientists use mouse models to understand how our genes contribute to biology and disease.

Understanding the exact role a gene plays in biology or disease is challenging because multicellular organisms, like humans, are complex. Just over thirty years ago a group of scientists made a pivotal discovery that led to the development of an important tool that changed the way scientists could study the role of a single gene and its impact on an entire biological system: the knockout mouse.

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