LAUSR

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a genetic neuromuscular disease of growing importance caused by in‐frame, partial loss‐of‐function mutations in the dystrophin (DMD) gene. BMD presents with reduced severity compared with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the allelic disorder of complete dystrophin deficiency. Significant therapeutic advancements have been made in DMD, including four FDA‐approved drugs. BMD, however, is understudied and underserved—there are no drugs and few clinical trials. Discordance in therapeutic efforts is due in part to lack of a BMD mouse model which would enable greater understanding of disease and de‐risk potential therapeutics before first‐in‐human trials. Importantly, a BMD mouse model is becoming increasingly critical as emerging DMD dystrophin restoration therapies aim to convert a DMD genotype into a BMD phenotype.