Detailed protocol for IV viral injections to drive systemic transgene expression

CRISPR/Cas9 technology has greatly accelerated the development of genetically engineered mice, but it’s still a big investment of time before the mice are ready. For quicker turnaround, there are other options (and speed isn’t the only reason to explore these alternatives), including in utero electroporation and local AAV injections. Here’s another way:

Viviana Gradinaru’s lab has been developing methods for delivering viruses intravenously to drive systemic transgene expression. They recently released a preprint detailing the latest version of their methods. This is an exceptionally well detailed protocol write-up, and we commend the authors: Rosemary C Challis, Sripriya Ravindra Kumar, Ken Y Chan, Collin Challis, Min J Jang, Pradeep S Rajendran, John D Tompkins, Kalyanam Shivkumar, Benjamin E Deverman, and Viviana Gradinaru.

For our colleague studying vision, be careful with your retro-orbital injections!