The overall objectives of this program are to (a) produce animal models of human anemias, (b) determine the etiology of these diseases, and (c) to develop therapeutic methods for these inherited conditions. This will be accomplished in my laboratory where 12 of the 16 known different hereditary anemias of mice are under study: through the synthesis and maintenance of mutant stocks bearing inherited anemias on a common set of genetic backgrounds; through an examination and elements that support erythropoiesis in the regulatory mechanisms that control it; through study of the comparative developmental hematology of mutants and their pathogenic manifestations; and by attempting to modify primary or secondary gene expressions by substituting normal cells or cell products necessary for proper homeostatic control of erythropoiesis. The essential aim of this investigation is to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for perinatal disorders of erythropoiesis.
