Science Imitates Art: The Cloning of Mice from Olfactory Sensory Neurons

The functional identity of an olfactory sensory neuron is defined by its expression of one odorant receptor from a large multigene family. The complexity of this process has led to speculation that DNA rearrangements are used to limit the expression of one receptor gene per cell. However, a recent report in Nature directly rules out irreversible DNA rearrangements as a mechanism for odorant receptor gene choice.