Definition for Ablation experiment
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Revision as of 03:31, 26 December 2014 by Duddy (Talk | contribs) (Created page with "An experiment designed to produce an animal deficient in one or a few cell types, in order to study cell lineage or cell function. The idea is to make a transgenic mouse with a t...")
An experiment designed to produce an animal deficient in one or a few cell types, in order to study cell lineage or cell function. The idea is to make a transgenic mouse with a toxin gene (often diphtheria toxin) under control of a specialized promoter which activates only in the target cell type. When embryo development progresses to the point where it starts to form the target tissue, the toxin gene is activated, and that specific tissue dies. Other tissues are unaffected.