What's wrong with my mouse? Behavioral phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice

Abstract

Reviews the book "What's wrong with my mouse? Behavioral phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice," by Jacqueline N. Crawley (2000). This book consists of nine chapters organized around behavioral domains: neurology and development, motor functions, sensory abilities, learning and memory, feeding and drinking, reproductive behaviors, social behaviors, emotional behaviors and reward. Each chapter begins with an overview of history and current hypotheses, features descriptions of relevant procedures, and closes with a selection of studies using genetically modified mice and a short bibliography of relevant background literature. The book provides an impressive 60 page bibliography of original publications which are referenced by the text of each book chapter. Given the limited space available in a single volume, the author clearly defines the scope and aims of the book at the outset. The distinction between the two major types of genetic modifications, random insertion transgenics and targeted mutations, appears somewhat blurred because the book rather arbitrarily distinguishes between transgenic mice with a gene added and knockout mice with a gene deleted or inactivated. This valuable book is currently the most complete overview of behavioral procedures available for the phenotyping of genetically modified mice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)