Caudal Type Homeobox 2 (CDX2)

Caudal type homeobox transcription factor 2 is a homeobox transcription factor.Cdx2 is the gene that directs early embryogenesis in mice. It is required to form the placenta.Ectopic expression of CDX2 was reported more than 85% of the human patients with Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ectopic expression of Cdx2 in murine bone marrow induced AML in mice and upregulate Hox genes in bone marrow progenitors.This gene (or, more specifically, the equivalent gene in humans) has come up in the proposal by the President's Council on Bioethics, as a solution to the stem cell controversy. According to one of the plans put forth, by deactivating the gene, it would not be possible for a properly organized embryo to form, thus providing stem cells without requiring the destruction of an embryo.