Transgenic and knockout technologies are an extremely powerful set of tools used increasingly to investigate normal development and physiological processes, as well as a variety of disease processes, including cancer. Rapid progress in molecular epidemiology and genomic approaches to cancer now promise an explosive increase in the rate of identification of genetic loci associated with cancer. Any understanding of how such loci function in normal and pathological processes will depend heavily on experiments in genetically altered mice. The Transgenic Core Facility was established in April 1993 with Developmental Funds from the Cancer Center Support Grant. The primary services provided by the technical staff of the Transgenic Core Facility are the production of transgenic mice by pro-nuclear injection and the production of knockout by ES cell injection into blastocysts. The Core can also assist with genotyping of mice, and proposes to expand this service in a joint venture with the Genomics Core Facility. Finally, the Core provides advice and expert consultation on vector preparation, mouse developmental biology, and methods and approaches to testing gene function in mice. Dr. Robert Maxson, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, directs the Transgenic Core Facility and has extensive experience with transgenic and knockout mice. The facility is staffed by Frank Sangiorgi, Ph.D., who manages the facility. Dr. Nancy Wu. Who performs most of the DNA injections and egg manipulations and Ms. Youzhen Yan, who monitors the mice and performs various technical services. The facility is located on the 7th floor of the Norris building in Cancer Center Vivarium space and consists of a microinjection room and two dedicated mouse holding rooms.
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