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Science 3 April 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5923, p. 54
DOI: 10.1126/science.1168275
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Brevia

Conditional Mutagenesis in Drosophila

Ching Man Choi,1,2,3* Sven Vilain,1,2,3* Marion Langen,1,2,4 Sofie Van Kelst,1,2 Natalie De Geest,1,2 Jiekun Yan,1,2 Patrik Verstreken,1,2,3,4 Bassem A. Hassan1,2,3,4{dagger}

Most genes function at multiple stages of metazoan development, in dividing and nondividing cells. Generating mouse conditional knock-outs (cKO), where a gene can be eliminated in a temporally and spatially controlled manner, is a valuable technique because it allows study of gene function at any stage of life. In contrast and despite the development of many other powerful genetic tools, cKO has thus far been lacking in Drosophila. We combined several recent molecular and genetic technical advances in an approach termed integrase-mediated approach for gene knock-out (IMAGO). IMAGO allows the replacement of any genomic sequence, such as a gene, with another desired sequence, including cKO alleles that can be used to create positively marked mutant cells. IMAGO should also be applicable to other genetic model organisms.

1 Department of Molecular and Developmental Genetics, VIB 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
2 Center for Human Genetics, K. U. (Katholieke Universiteit) Leuven School of Medicine, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
3 Doctoral program in Molecular and Developmental Genetics, K. U. Leuven Group Biomedicine, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
4 Doctoral program in Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, K. U. Leuven Group Biomedicine, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Bassem.Hassan{at}med.kuleuven.be

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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R. Weng, Y.-W. Chen, N. Bushati, A. Cliffe, and S. M. Cohen (2009)
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