Table 1.
Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of different loss-of-function approaches for developmental studies. The number of + or − signs indicates how much a particular issue is adding to the advantage (+) or disadvantage (−) of a particular approach. Obviously, the different approaches require technical expertise that cannot be taken into account for the comparison.
| Technique | Costs | Labtime | Temporal control | Spatial control | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional knockouts (Mouse) | - | - | - - | - - - | No spatial and temporal control |
| Conditional knockouts (Mouse) | - - | - - | - | +++ | No temporal control Specific promoters required |
| Inducible knockout (Mouse) |
- - - | - - - | ++* | +++ | Specific promoters required |
| Morpholinos (Zebrafish) |
++ | +++ | - | - | |
| Virus-mediated RNAi (Mouse, Chicken) |
- | + | ++* | ++ | |
| RNAi: In utero electroporation of si/shRNA (Mouse, Rats) | + | + | ++ | - | Poor spatial resolution |
|
In ovo RNAi (Chicken) |
+++ | +++ | +++ | +++ | Embryonic stages only |
*
Temporal control is not available for embryonic stages