R&D pipeline

Applied to human beings, genomics allows us to define and understand the relation between certain DNA sequences and biological phenomena, normal or pathological. For several years remarkable efforts and heavy investments have been made systematically to map and sequence the human genome. This first step is necessary to identify mutations or certain characteristics linked to diseases.

However, merely identifying these sequences cannot itself determine the role of a gene in a disease or a biological mechanism. Molecular analysis is the first step toward an answer, but given the complexity of a cell, and how much more so of an entire organism, this approach remains insufficient.

Only studies on the cell itself and the animal offer the possibility to characterize the precise functions of a gene by placing it in its natural context, which is infinitely more complex than any experiment that could ever be designed in a laboratory.

Studying genetically modified mice has now become essential in clinical and fundamental research. These mice make it possible to study in vivo functions, expression and regulatory mechanisms of a gene implicated in a disease or certain biological phenomena. They can also be used to develop experimental models to reproduce human diseases, test pharmacological entities or evaluate protocols for gene therapy.