Lexicon Genetics Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology deal

Lexicon exclusively licensed retrovirus promotor-trap vectors, reagents that can be used for gene isolation, drug assay development, gene expression and mutant mouse experimentation. The MIT technology is covered by U.S. Patent No. 5,364,783.

Large-scale trapping of genes is the foundation of Lexicon’s core program, OmniBank, which aims to identify and mutate all mouse genes using a variety of gene traps. Using the traps in mouse embryonic stem cells, Lexicon is able to generate knockout mice in six to 10 months. The mice then can be used to assess gene function. ...