Many diseases including cancer are multigenic which means a complex combination of multiple genetic lesions are responsible for the pathogenesis. Generally, a medley of loss-of-function mutations in the tumor suppressor genes and gain-of-function mutations in proto-oncogenes are responsible for tumorigenesis. Hence modeling these multigene diseases is crucial to elucidate the roles of these complex combinations and drug development.

At TME, we use CRISPR-mediated gene editing for the quick deletion of multiple genes. Multiple sgRNA targeting specific genomic loci are injected into the fertilized embryos of Cre-dependent Cas9-expressing mice. This allows for a tissue-specific multigene knockout in a time and cost-effective manner.