In ovo eye electroporation

Abstract

Electroporation has been used successfully to introduce macromolecules such as DNA into the chick embryo for at least 15 years. Purified plasmid DNA is microinjected into embryo and then a series of low voltage electrical pulses are applied to the embryo which allows naked DNA to enter cells. Following entrance into the cytoplasm, the DNA is transported to the nucleus where it is transiently expressed. This powerful technique is useful for studies involving overexpression, misexpression, and knockdown of genes of interest at a variety of developmental timepoints. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.