GMO-Genetically modified organism

Many human diseases are often quite complex and involve the interaction of different cell types, blood circulation, or immune response, which are difficult to model in cell culture. Biomedical research therefore often takes advantage of animal models to understand the molecular mechanism underlying human diseases and to develop and test new drugs to treat them.

Mostly used as models are mice, since they are small, relatively inexpensive, and genetically highly similar. In addition, novel techniques have been developed to efficiently generate genetically modified mice. However, the relevance of results obtained in these mouse models for the therapy of human patients is often debated. Is animal research at all meaningful? Can genetic modification be used to increase the relevance of mouse disease models? How is genome editing in mice done? What are the consequences for the mice with respect to animal welfare? These and related questions will be addressed in this lecture.