Teratocarcinoma cell as agents for producing mutant mice.

Abstract

The genetic mechanisms that are involved in the differentiation of a wide spectrum of cell types as well as those affecting higher levels of biological organization remain largely unknown in mammals. In part, this is due to the lack of a ready source of experimentally useful, mutant genes for study. Mammalian genetics, instead, has had to content itself primarily with mutants fortuitously obtained without specific selection and which often have fairly gross phenotypes, without a defined molecular basis, such as coat color changes or behavior defects. On the other hand, there has evolved work on somatic cell genetics in culture that has enabled mutagenesis and selection of specific biochemical mutations to be realized at the cellular level, albeit without appreciable differentiation.KeywordsMutant CloneTeratocarcinoma CellReplica PlatingSomatic Cell GeneticMammalian GeneticThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.