This application proposes a renewal of the Mouse Mutant Resource and Research Center (MMRRC) at The Jackson Laboratory. Highly sophisticated genome engineering technologies, a well-characterized genome, mammalian physiology and economical husbandry requirements make laboratory mice the mainstay of biomedical research on disease mechanism and for disease modeling. The NIH has recognized that the potential impact of genetically engineered mice for biomedical research cannot be fully realized without a centralized effort to identify, archive, evaluate, characterize, and distribute valuable strains of mice to qualified biomedical researchers. The MMRRC provides this centralized repository function. With over 80 years of mouse genetics and mouse resource experience, The Jackson Laboratory joined the MMRRC in 2009 and since has been a key member of the consortium. This proposal requests on-going support for The Jackson Laboratory as one of the four MMRRC core repositories. As a member of the MMRRC consortium, the Jackson Laboratory will contribute to the development and improvement of consortium wide standard operating procedures. The MMRRC at JAX will follow these mutually agreed upon standard operating procedures to fulfill the goals importation, archiving (through cryopreservation of sperm and/or embryos) and distribution of biomedically important strains of mice and related materials. The MMRRC at JAX also provides related services on a fee for service basis and conducts high risk high return research and model development projects that fit within the overall goals of the consortium.
The laboratory mouse remains the most powerful model organism for biomedical research due to its shared mammalian physiology and its well-characterized and accessible genome. Advances in DNA sequencing technologies and tools for genetic engineering mean that the laboratory mouse can now be engineered with unprecedented speed and sophistication; such that now, more than ever, scientists are relying on laboratory mice not only for basic research on disease mechanism but also for direct modeling of human genetic mutations in the context of complex mammalian physiology, gene-by-genome interactions and pre-clinical drug testing. The Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center at The Jackson Laboratory provides a biorepository for these valuable mouse models for the research community and leadership for best practices in mouse genetics, model development, and research reproducibility.
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