In molecular cloning and biology, a gene knock-in (abbreviation: KI) refers to a genetic engineering method that involves the one-for-one substitution of DNA sequence information in a genetic locus or the insertion of sequence information not found within the locus.
It is a technique by which scientific investigators may study the function of the regulatory machinery (e.g. promoters) that governs the expression of the natural gene being replaced.
[3] The use of loxP flanking sites that become excised upon expression of Cre recombinase with gene vectors is an example of this.
Lung tumors observed in the knock-in mice offer support for the hypothesis of BaP’s carcinogenicity.
[9] It should be possible to modify stem cells in humans to restore targeted gene function in certain tissues, for example possibly correcting the mutant gamma-chain gene of the IL-2 receptor in hematopoietic stem cells to restore lymphocyte development in people with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency.
[4] While gene knock-in technology has proven to be a powerful technique for the generation of models of human disease and insight into proteins in vivo, numerous limitations still exist.