Rudolf Jaenisch

Dr. Jaenisch is a pioneer in transgenic science (making mouse models of human disease). Mouse models developed in the Jaenisch lab have produced important advances in understanding cancer, neurological disorders, connective tissue diseases, and developmental abnormalities in muscle and bone. These methods have been used to explore basic questions such as the role of DNA modification, genomic imprinting, X chromosome inactivation, and, most recently, nuclear cloning. The laboratory is renowned for its expertise in cloning mice and in studying the myriad factors that contribute to the success and failure of this process. They have more recently gained insights into therapeutic cloning, and have indeed rescued mice with a genetic defect through therapeutic cloning and gene therapy.