Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of highly heterogenous neurological disorders that are believed to have strong genetic component. Due to the limited use of approaches of functional genomics in human medicine, creating adequate animal models for the study of complex human diseases shows great potential. There are several already established mouse models of autism that offer insight into single phenotypic traits, although causes for its complex phenotype have not yet been fully understood. Development of new technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, represent great capability for targeted genome engineering and establishment of new animal models. With it, comes the capacity to critically asses the meaning of genetic background for ASD development. The thesis provides an up to date overview of current knowledge in the area of autism genomics and concerns on the possibilities for the design of new mouse models of autism with CRISPR/Cas9 technology
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