A transgenic construct containing the mouse Birc5 (baculoviral IAP repeat-containing 5) gene under the control of the mouse Dct, dopachrome tautomerase, promoter and 0.8 kb of SV40 polyadenylation sequences was injected into fertilized (C57BL/6 x CBA)F1 mouse eggs. Founder line 21 was subsequently established. Expression is detectable in hair follicle melanocytes by in situ hybridization.