Donning Clark
BRCA1 is a tumour suppressor found in the breast and ovary. Breast cancer is predisposed to people who have BRCA1 mutations, and BRCA1 expression is down-regulated in 30% of sporadic cases. Although the function of BRCA1 is unknown, it appears to play an important role in DNA repair and the maintenance of genetic stability. In order to better understand the function of the gene in vivo, mouse models of BRCA1 deficiency have been created. However, because of the subtle nature of BRCA1 function and the well-known differences in human and murine breast cancer biology and genetics, mouse systems may be limited in their usefulness in identifying BRCA1 function in cancer and validating the discovery of novel therapeutics for breast cancer
