EDITORIALREVIEWMousemodelstostudykidneydevelopment,functionanddiseaseJosephP.Lya,TuncerOnayaandSusanE.Quaggina,b,caTheSamuelLunenfeldResearchInstitute,MountPurposeofreviewSinaiHospital,bDivisionofNephrology,StMichael’sHospitalandcDepartmentofMedicine,UniversityThemouseisthemostwidelyusedmodelorganismtostudygenefunctioninthekidneyHealthNetwork,UniversityofToronto,Toronto,invivo.HerewereviewrecentadvancesintechnologiestomanipulatethemouseOntario,Canadagenomeandgenefunctiontostudyrenalbiology.WediscussstrengthsandCorrespondencetoSusanE.Quaggin,TheSamuelweaknessesoftheapproachesandprovideexamplesinwhichtheyhavebeenusedtoLunenfeldResearchInstitute,TCPBuilding,Room5-1015-2,25OrdeStreet,Toronto,ONM5T3H7,addressrenalquestions.Inaddition,weprovideasummaryoftheavailableresourcesofCanadamousetoolsandgene-targetingconsortia.Tel:+14165864800;fax:+14165865130;e-mail:quaggin@lunenfeld.caRecentfindingsAlthoughconventionalgene-targetingandspontaneousgeneticmutationsinmicehaveCurrentOpinioninNephrologyandHypertension2011,20:382–390providedgreatinsightsintokidneyfunctionoverseveraldecades,theadditionofpowerfulrenal-specificgene-targetingtoolsandtheadventofRNAtechnologiestomanipulategenefunctioninvivoallowinvestigatorstoaddressresearchquestionsmorepreciselyinthelaboratory.TogetherwiththeestablishmentofmultipleinternationalconsortiatotargetallthegenesinthemousegenomeandthedevelopmentofgenetrapandN-ethyl-N-nitrosourearesources,geneticmanipulationinmicehasbecomemoreefficient.SummaryTheavailabilityofnewertechnologiesandtremendousresourcesformousestrainsandreagentsensuresthatthemousewillremainakeymodelorganismtostudyrenalfunction.KeywordsamiRNA,Cre,mousemodel,N-ethyl-N-nitrosoureamutagenesis,shRNA,transgenicCurrOpinNephrolHypertens20:382–390ß2011WoltersKluwerHealth|LippincottWilliams&Wilkins1062-48211Â10–3perlocus,whichis100-foldhigherthantheIntroductionestimatedbaselinespontaneousmutationrate[1].ThehighdegreeofsimilaritybetweenmouseandhumanAlthoughbothaut