Gene Targeting
Our gene targeting technology, which is covered by nine issued patents that we have licensed, enables us to generate highly specific alterations in targeted genes.  This technology replaces DNA of a gene in a mouse embryonic stem cell through a process known as homologous recombination to disrupt the function of the targeted gene, permitting the generation of knockout mice.  By using this technology in combination with other technologies, we are able to generate alterations that selectively disrupt, or conditionally regulate, the function of the targeted gene for analyzing the gene's function.  We can also use this technology to replace the targeted gene with its corresponding human gene for use in preclinical research for our therapeutic discovery programs.

Gene Trapping
Our gene trapping technology, which is covered by nine issued patents that we own, is a high-throughput method of generating knockout mouse clones invented at Lexicon.  This technology uses genetically engineered retroviruses that infect mouse embryonic stem cells in vitro.  Upon integration into a gene, the inserted DNA disrupts the function of the trapped gene and activates a selectable marker, enabling the generation of knockout mice and allowing for the precise identification of the chromosomal insertion site.  This process also stimulates transcription of a non-protein producing portion of the trapped gene, using the cell's own splicing machinery to generate this transcript from the chromosome for automated DNA sequencing.  This allows us to identify and catalogue each embryonic stem cell clone by DNA sequence from the trapped gene and to select embryonic stem cell clones by DNA sequence for the generation of knockout mice.