If you want a mouse to have a certain gene so you can study it, one thing you can do is genetically modify a mouse embryo. Then, when it grows up, it will have the gene that you want.
How does this work? To put it simply, mouse embryo only has like 10 cells (for the sake of this example). You can manually modify 10 cells in like an hour, no problem, and you know you have modified 100% of their cells. Implant your modified embryo into a living lady mouse and she’ll birth it the rest of the way. Now you have the mouse that you want.
You can’t fully modify a fully grown adult mouse. The reason is because they have like 6273829288384828 cells (again, not actual number, for example purposes). It would take a really long time to change all the cells. Even then, can you be sure you changed them all? You see the issue here.
violette_witch t1_iw3bhma wrote
Reply to How do medical researchers obtain lab animals with diseases like specific forms of cancer which arise spontaneously? Do they raise thousands of apes and hope some eventually develop the disease? by userbrn1
If you want a mouse to have a certain gene so you can study it, one thing you can do is genetically modify a mouse embryo. Then, when it grows up, it will have the gene that you want.
How does this work? To put it simply, mouse embryo only has like 10 cells (for the sake of this example). You can manually modify 10 cells in like an hour, no problem, and you know you have modified 100% of their cells. Implant your modified embryo into a living lady mouse and she’ll birth it the rest of the way. Now you have the mouse that you want.
You can’t fully modify a fully grown adult mouse. The reason is because they have like 6273829288384828 cells (again, not actual number, for example purposes). It would take a really long time to change all the cells. Even then, can you be sure you changed them all? You see the issue here.