In mammalian cells, apoptotic and anti-apoptotic pathways may be investigated using a variety of biochemical, molecular, and genetic approaches. Retrovirus mediated genetic screens have proven a powerful tool in mapping out the network of players in a number of signaling pathways. We have developed the ERM (for enhanced retroviral mutagen) mutagenesis approach to identify novel players in the growth factor dependent survival pathways. ERM has been shown to be efficient and amenable to genome wide genetic screens in mammalian cells without the need of cDNA library construction. The advantages of the ERM method include regulatable expression, flexible design, and efficiency.
