In recent years, new targeted genome editing technologies, including Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZNFs), transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR/Cas9, enable researchers to generate precise gene alterations of virtually any genomic target sequence. Particularly, these approaches offer researchers with alternative methods to develop mutant mice and human disease models, faster and more economical than traditional gene targeting methods. Creative Biolabs offers customized model creation services based on TALEN-mediated genome editing technique, which can be just as effective as CRISPR/Cas9, in many cases providing a better solution to the problem at hand.
Mechanisms of TALEN
Unlike the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which is guided by a short RNA, composed of two components crRNA and tracrRNA, TALENs and ZNFs are protein-guided genome engineering systems. These approaches apply proteins composed of a customizable sequence-specific DNA-binding domain fused to a nuclease that cleaves DNA in a non-sequence-specific manner. Thus, double-stranded DNA breaks can be introduced in the neighboring sequence and then be healed by mechanisms, either homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), that can be exploited to create sequence alterations at the cleavage site. Numerous genomic alterations have been reported using these methods including gene deletions, insertions, point mutations and so on.
Advantages of TALEN
Although CRISPR/Cas9 is a newer and more popular technology in the development of animal disease models as well as many other fields compared to TALEN, the latter is still a valuable approach due to several advantages:
These two technologies are, to some extent, complementary to each other, both showing strengths and weaknesses. As a result, the choice of genome editing tool should be determined by the desired genome editing outcome. Such a rational approach is likely to benefit research outputs for groups working in fields as diverse as the modification of cell lines, to animal models for disease studies, or gene therapy strategies.
Workflow of Our Services
Creative Biolabs has the advantages of high efficiency and years of expertise. In our experience, The F1 mice can be obtained as little as four to six months using our TALEN technologies. The process involves five major steps:
Meanwhile, Creative Biolabs offers other related techniques used for gene manipulation in the generation of genetically engineered models that you might be interested in. Please click the links below for more information.
With years of experience and adopted cutting-edge technologies, Creative Biolabs is proud to offer the most reliable genome engineering model services at most favorable prices currently on the market. Contact or inquire us to discuss the ideal custom mouse model to boost the impact of your next project and beyond.
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