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Biological techniques

An embryonic view of tumour development

Nature volume 501, pages 171–172 (2013)Cite this article

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A genome-wide screen of developing mouse embryos, performed using RNA-interference techniques, finds new suspects in skin cancer. But some factors seem to have opposing roles in cancer and normal-tissue maintenance. See Article p.185

Gene function has traditionally been studied using organisms in which individual genes have been either eliminated or artificially expressed in excess. The discovery in the 1990s of RNA interference (RNAi) — the process by which small RNA molecules specifically inhibit gene expression by binding to and destroying messenger RNAs — established a new framework for investigating gene function. Until now, however, genome-wide screens using RNAi techniques have been limited mainly to cultured cells, and so cannot take into account the complex cellular interactions that govern normal tissue behaviour or that lead to the development of diseases such as cancer. On page 185 of this issue, Beronja et al.1 describe the first in vivo genome-wide RNAi screen, which was performed in mouse embryos with the aim of identifying genes involved in the development of non-melanoma skin cancerFootnote 1.

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Figure 1: Role of β-catenin in normal and cancer-prone skin cells.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion1 were published online on 14 August 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pawel J. Schweiger and Kim B. Jensen are at the Biotech Research and Innovation Center, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.,

    Pawel J. Schweiger & Kim B. Jensen

  2. K.B.J. is also at the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, UK.,

    Kim B. Jensen

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  1. Pawel J. Schweiger
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  2. Kim B. Jensen
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Correspondence to Kim B. Jensen.

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Schweiger, P., Jensen, K. An embryonic view of tumour development. Nature 501, 171–172 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12547

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