Gene knockout (KO) is a genetic engineering method by which both the alleles of certain gene/genes are made inoperative/nonfunctional or deleted from the organism’s genome. Knocking out a particular gene provides valuable information about functional role played by that gene and has proved as an effective method to study genetic basis of various diseases including cancer, diabetes, neurodegeneration, as well as aging. Gene knockout could be a “whole body knockout” if the particular gene is deleted from every cell of a multicellular organism or it could be a “conditional knockout” if the gene is deleted only in specific group of cells/tissues or from a particular organ. Gene knockout is one of the essential components of functional genomics whereby using homologous recombination or more recently clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), a mutated version of wild gene achieved by in vitro mutagenesis is exchanged with original gene to render it nonfunctional....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Chai, S., Wan, X., Ramirez-Navarro, A., Tesar, P. J., Kaufman, E. S., Ficker, E., … Deschenes, I. (2018). Physiological genomics identifies genetic modifiers of long QT syndrome type 2 severity. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 128, 1043–1056.
Chavez, J. C., Bachmeier, C., & Kharfan-Dabaja, M. A. (2019). CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell lymphomas: Clinical trial results of available products. Therapeutic Advances in Hematology, 10, 1–20.
Cowan, P. J., Hawthorne, W. J., & Nottle, M. B. (2019). Xenogeneic transplantation and tolerance in the era of CRISPR-Cas9. Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation, 24, 5–11.
Cox, D. B., Platt, R. J., & Zhang, F. (2015). Therapeutic genome editing: Prospects and challenges. Nature Medicine, 21, 121–131.
Epinat, J. C., Arnould, S., Chames, P., Rochaix, P., Desfontaines, D., Puzin, C., … Lacroix, E. (2003). A novel engineered meganuclease induces homologous recombination in yeast and mammalian cells. Nucleic Acids Research, 31, 2952–2962.
Fan, H. C., Chi, C. S., Lee, Y. J., Tsai, J. D., Lin, S. Z., & Harn, H. J. (2018). The role of gene editing in neurodegenerative diseases. Cell Transplantation, 27, 364–378.
Gaj, T., Gersbach, C. A., & Barbas, C. F., 3rd. (2013). ZFN, TALEN, and CRISPR/Cas-based methods for genome engineering. Trends in Biotechnology, 31, 397–405.
Hall, B., Limaye, A., & Kulkarni, A. B. (2009). Chapter 19, Unit 19.12 19.12.11-17, Overview: Generation of gene knockout mice. In Current protocols in cell biology. New Jersy, USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN: 978-0-471-24108-9.
Ho, B. X., Loh, S. J. H., Chan, W. K., & Soh, B. S. (2018). In vivo genome editing as a therapeutic approach. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19, 2721.
Hongbao, M., Young, M., & Yan, Y. (2013). Gene knockout research literatures. Researcher, 9(8):71–80.
Jinek, M., Chylinski, K., Fonfara, I., Hauer, M., Doudna, J. A., & Charpentier, E. (2012). A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity. Science, 337, 816–821.
Joung, J. K., & Sander, J. D. (2013). TALENs: A widely applicable technology for targeted genome editing. Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology, 14, 49–55.
Li, H., Yang, Y., Hong, W., Huang, M., Wu, M., & Zhao, X. (2020). Applications of genome editing technology in the targeted therapy of human diseases: Mechanisms, advances and prospects. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 5, 1.
Lin, F. L., Sperle, K., & Sternberg, N. (1984). Model for homologous recombination during transfer of DNA into mouse L cells: Role for DNA ends in the recombination process. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 4, 1020–1034.
Marth, J. D. (1996). Recent advances in gene mutagenesis by site-directed recombination. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 97, 1999–2002.
Miller, J. C., Tan, S., Qiao, G., Barlow, K. A., Wang, J., Xia, D. F., … Hinkley, S. J. (2011). A TALE nuclease architecture for efficient genome editing. Nature Biotechnology, 29, 143.
Ni, W., Qiao, J., Hu, S., Zhao, X., Regouski, M., Yang, M., … Chen, C. (2014). Efficient gene knockout in goats using CRISPR/Cas9 system. PLoS One, 9, e106718.
O’Rahilly, S. (2009). Human genetics illuminates the paths to metabolic disease. Nature, 462, 307–314.
Ramanan, V., Shlomai, A., Cox, D. B. T., Schwartz, R. E., Michailidis, E., Bhatta, A., … Bhatia, S. N. (2015). CRISPR/Cas9 cleavage of viral DNA efficiently suppresses hepatitis B virus. Scientific Reports, 5, 10833.
Sánchez-Rivera, F. J., & Jacks, T. (2015). Applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in cancer biology. Nature Reviews. Cancer, 15, 387–395.
Sander, J. D., & Joung, J. K. (2014). CRISPR-Cas systems for editing, regulating and targeting genomes. Nature Biotechnology, 32, 347.
Thomas, K. R., & Capecchi, M. R. (1987). Site-directed mutagenesis by gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells. Cell, 51, 503–512.
Urnov, F. D., Rebar, E. J., Holmes, M. C., Zhang, H. S., & Gregory, P. D. (2010). Genome editing with engineered zinc finger nucleases. Nature Reviews. Genetics, 11, 636–646.
Vogel, G. (2007). Nobel Prizes. A knockout award in medicine. Science, 318, 178–179.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mir, F.A. (2020). Knockout Genes. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_529-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_529-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences