Human genetics, animal models and computer simulations for studying hypertension

Essential hypertension is probably caused by combinations of small quantitative changes in the expression of many genes together with environmental factors. In this article, strategies for studying hypertension using animal models are summarized with emphasis on the combined use of mouse models and computer simulations. We have chosen the rennin-angiotensin system as our main example. Future directions of hypertension research using gene targeting are also discussed.