Because cell death in pre-migratory neural crest cells frequently leads to craniofacial abnormalities (Noden and Trainor, 2005; Dixon et al., 2006), one might predict that increased cell death in pre-migratory neural crest cells may lead to cleft palate in Brca1 cKO and Brca2 cKO mutants. This evidence concerns the gene BRCA1 and cleft palate.