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Sucessful inheritance of transgenic material in mouse sperm
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A research group from The Royal Veterinary College, North Mimms in the UK has just published a ground-breaking transgenics paper. The paper, published in in The FASEB Journal, reported the results of a study on mouse sperm transfected with lentivirus in which the authors show that transgenes could be transmitted to a second and third generation of mice. The group used lentivirus vectors encoding the marker green fluorescent protein (GFP) to transduce mouse spermatozoa. These spermatozoa were then used in in vitro fertilisation procedures. Following implantation, greater than 42% of the resulting founders were transgenic for GFP. Expression was observed on different chromosomes and in multiple tissues, including testis. It even extended to a third generation of mice.

This work opens up the possibility of using the relatively accessible male germ cells, including mature sperm, instead of oocytes as a substrate for transgenics. It is a relatively simple technique but its implications are huge, especially if it proves transferable to humans. The authors of the study point to the applicability of the technique the study of fertilization and pre-implantation, vertical viral gene transmission, gene function and regulation, and epigenetic inheritance. Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal points out that “If we are able to able to alter sperm to improve the health of future generations, it would completely change our notions of 'preventative medicine’." If it is transferable, the sky is the limit for this technology which opens up the possibility of using transgenics to potentially cure diseases and, for example, regenerate human organs.

Sources
Chandrashekran, A., Sarkar, R., Thrasher, A., Fraser, S.E., Dibb, N., Casimir, C., Winston, R. and Readhead, C., 2013. Efficient generation of transgenic mice by lentivirus-mediated modification of spermatozoa. FASEB J, December 2, 2013 DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-233999

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. "'Designer sperm' inserts custom genes into offspring." ScienceDaily, 2 Dec. 2013. [Accessed 5 Dec. 2013].
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