Gene trapping techniques and current progress

Abstract

Gene trapping technique is a powerful method for gene cloning and analysis. A lot of genes with unknown functions have been discovered and characterized with the help of randomly inserted mutation libraries developed by gene trapping techniques. In this article, the origin and background of gene trapping technology are briefly introduced, and then the principles of typical gene trap vectors, current progress and new efficient gene trapping techniques are discussed in detail. Disadvantage and prospects of various gene trapping technologies are also discussed.