What is the difference between gene knockout and gene knockdown?

[Beth K]

Is there a difference between gene knock out and gene knock down?

[Robin]

Gene knockout and gene knockdown are two mechanisms of silencing the expression of genes inside organisms. Gene knockout is applicable at DNA level while gene knockdown is applicable at RNA level.

Gene knockout involves the complete erasing of target genes or inactivating them through nonsense mutations whereas gene knockdown is through abortion of protein translation and degradation of the mRNA.

 

[A. Diaa]

The two techniques: gene knockout and knockdown, are methods to investigate the functions of different genes. Gene knockout completely makes the gene inoperative while gene knockdown silences the gene of interest. However, both procedures prevent the gene expression. Different agents are capable of accomplishing these two processes. Gene knockout is a type of deletion while gene knockdown is a type of inactivation.

[John Brown]

Gene knockout is the total removal or permanent deactivation of a gene through inducing a targeted DNA damage. Knockout mice are commonly used in research to study the effects of genes that may have significance in human health.

Gene knockdown is the deactivation or suppression rather than deletion of the gene. Gene knockdown can be complete or partial, offering flexibility in studying the gene’s role in the biology of the organism. In gene silencing, or RNA interference (RNAi), small interfering RNA (siRNA) or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) are used to inactivate messenger RNA for a specific gene.

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