Laboratoire d'Immunogénétique Moléculaire Humaine, Centre de Recherche en Immunologie et Hématologie, Faculté de Médecine, Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Forward genetics has led to many "breakthrough" discoveries, and with the mouse genome almost fully sequenced, the creation of phenotypes through random germline mutagenesis has become an efficient means by which to find the function of yet undescribed genes. In this chapter, we will provide a practical guideline for performing germline mutagenesis in mice. In particular, we will focus on the application of this technology to identify genes that are essential to innate immune defense.