The Congenic Footprint

Backcrossing knockout alleles into inbred mouse strains is common procedure, but unintended consequences can occur. Leonard C. Schalkwyk of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London and collaborators at the University of Tartu in Estonia backcrossed cholecystokynin 2 knockouts with C57BL/6 mice and demonstrated a "congenic footprint," a remaining fragment of the flanking stem cell-derived chromosome that causes differences in gene expression.¹

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