Techniques : reporter mice – a new way to look at drug action

In vivo reporter gene and imaging technologies have the potential to contribute to the drug discovery pipeline in several areas. They provide systems that enable the study of the biochemical activity of a target in disease, and in response to a drug, to be monitored over periods of time, and offer more accurate methods of measuring pharmacodynamics and toxicity. Although reporter-gene technology is in its infancy, with further refinement reporter animals could become a valuable tool in the early stages of target and lead identification and preclinical drug development.