The Specialized Animal Resource (SAR) Module has been heavily used since the first funding cycle in 1997. Due toincreased demand from current investigators and new investigators, we recently added a second full-time technician,Kathryn Zongolowicz, supported by Case Medical Center (CMC), to assist Heather Butler in breeding the large number ofmouse strains utilized by VSRC investigators. We also added a part time (20%) veterinary surgeon, Eugenia Diaconu,also supported by CMC, to teach and assist investigators with difficult ocular injection procedures (e.g., corneal,intravitreal and subretinal).Mutant strains of mice and rats are of considerable value in modern research on the eye. Yet, within the currentlimitations on budgets, the costs of managing mutant strains is often too high to be added to individual investigator grants,especially for pilot projects. Proper handling of mutant strains represents a major problem in that special expertise isneeded to establish the strain from valuable founders, overcome possible breeding problems caused by the mutantphenotype, manage the colonies efficiently in order to produce enough but not too many progeny of the right ages at theright time, and to obtain tissue samples (usually toe or tail snips under anesthesia) for determination of genotypes. Withvaluable strains, it is also necessary to use isolation cages to avoid infections that reduce the number of surviving progenyand can endanger the entire colony. In collaboration with the genotyping arm of the MB Module, the SAR Moduleprovides a service of breeding, management, characterization and weaning of transgenic animals. In addition to animalmanagement, Eugenia Diaconu, D.V.M. assists in the Module on a part-time basis.The SAR Module provides the critical support that allows our group of vision researchers to take greater advantage ofgenetically engineered mice and mutant rat lines. The Module was established, in a dedicated space in the AnimalResource Center (ARC) in the basement of the School of Medicine. However, due to the current extensive renovation ofthe animal care facility at the Case School of Medicine that should be completed by late 2007, the SAR Module breedingroom is in the nearby Wolstein Research Building. This facility is a new state-of-the-art barrier animal facility dedicatedonly to virus-free mice. The facility is controlled for air flow, temperature and humidity, and these parameters aremonitored continuously by remote sensors. The breeding facility is located within 200 yards of all investigators in theVSRC, and animals are transferred by the Animal Care Unit staff from the VSRC breeding center (and other breedingcenters now located at Wolstein) to each investigator's colony daily or as needed. If more than a cage or two need to betransferred, animal transfer is accomplished in heated/air-conditioned vehicles specifically for this purpose. The ARC isfully accredited and employs a highly skilled staff, including three full-time veterinarians. Space within the facility isassigned on a need basis, and only our full-time veterinary technicians, participating investigators, and ARC staff haveaccess to this room (Appendix A).The investigators of the VSRC have made a dramatic transition over the past five years to studying a large variety ofmouse transgenic, knockout and knock-in lines. Having a module with extensive expertise in breeding challenging mousestrains and analyzing and documenting ocular defects meets a critical need for our investigators.
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