Germline Transgenics

Until recently, research in prairie voles, as with many species other than the laboratory mouse, has been based largely on behavioral and pharmacological manipulation. While this line of research in prairie voles has yielded pioneering insight into the mechanisms underlying social attachment, it does not permit directed manipulation of desired genes or the neural pathways that mediate these behaviors. We plan to develop techniques for targeted mutagenesis in prairie voles. Specifically, we propose to develop protocols for 1) clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-mediated mutagenesis, and 2) embryonic stem (ES) cell derivation and targeting via homologous recombination.