Only two other universities offer service currently
A common question asked by researchers is, “What is the function of my favorite gene?”
One way to answer this is to knock-it-out from the research model – either cell or an organism.
Now, thanks to UNMC acquiring a powerful new tool, scientists will be able to knock out genes in their research models very easily. The tool is called TALENs (Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases), and the TALENs service is offered through the UNMC Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility directed by C.B. Gurumurthy, Ph.D., and his two team members, Don Harms and Rolen Quadros.
TALENs are protein tools that work like custom-made DNA cutting scissors. TALENs that cut and alter any particular gene can be built in less than two weeks. “With TALENs, it is easy to knock out your favorite gene more reliably and much faster than before,” Dr. Gurumurthy said.
He said knocking out a gene is superior to other commonly used approaches such as RNAi, where the gene is only knocked down and the results can be ambiguous. These tools can also be used for creating knockout models of other species other than just the laboratory mouse.
Dr. Gurumurthy said, “The TALENs technology has become a very popular method in the past couple years, and many researchers worldwide have been able to learn much more about gene functions using TALENs. He noted that more than 300 high profile research publications used TALENs in 2012.”
“For UNMC to be among the first three universities to launch the TALENs service speaks volumes,” said Paula Turpen, Ph.D., director of research resources. “Guru’s team is always on the forefront of cutting edge technologies and has introduced several services related to gene knockouts and transgenics in the last two years.”
“We can build custom TALENs at much less cost than what it would cost to build TALENs in each individual labs,” Dr. Gurumurthy said.
The service includes bioinformatics analysis of genomic locus, designing and building of TALENs including consultation on how to use TALENs. For more details, please contact Dr. Gurumurthy at cgurumurthy@unmc.edu (Phone 402-559-3338) or visit the website, http://www.unmc.edu/genetics/mgeservices.htm