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Nature 421, 903-904 (27 February 2003) | doi:10.1038/421903a

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Developmental biology: A twist in a mouse tale

Nick Dyson

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Studies of the retinoblastoma gene can still deliver surprises, and enlightenment. Several of the abnormalities in mice lacking this gene are, it seems, the indirect consequence of a placental defect.

On page 942 of this issue, Wu et al.1 describe a surprising new observation about the function of Rb, the gene that is mutated in retinoblastoma cancers. Rb is often described as a prototype for tumour suppressors — that priceless category of genes that, among other tasks, protect us from developing cancers — as it was the first gene of this type to be identified.