Predicting function of heterozygous vs WT gene? - (May/10/2011 )

Hi everyone,

So suppose my lab is developing a novel KO mice and the KO mice don't survive because the KO is lethal. However, the heterozygous mice, that is, with only one copy of the gene expressing does survive. Now my supervisor wants to know if the heterozygous mice will display any functional changes compared to the WT mice. Now as far as I understand it is impossible to predict the functional outcome (or phenotype) of these heterozygous mice. Am I correct or is there a way to predict the functional impact, whether this be expression, function or temporal development?

Thanks for your help!

This is called model characterization. The only real way to accurately get phenotype information is to get your hands dirty. Open field, rotorod, histology, etc.