An organizing committee has been formed to establish an International Mouse Genome Organization that would coordinate mouse genetic information databases, organize regular meetings on the mouse genome, enhance opportunities for genetic analysis of the laboratory mouse and coordinate the development of maps of mouse and human genomes. Participants in two international gene mapping meetings held in Paris in September, 1987, and in the U.S.A. in June, 1988, have agreed there is a clear need for such meetings similar to the biennial Human Gene Mapping Workshops. In August 1989, The Third International Mouse Genome meeting will be held in Oxford, England. The goals of this meeting will be (1) to provide a forum to continue the exchange of new gene mapping data; (2) to establish committees to integrate complex high resolution mapping and sequencing of specific regions of the mouse genome, such as the t- complex and the MHC on Chr 17 or the many DNA sequences isolated from the X Chromosome; (3) to stimulate international collaboration mouse genome analysis (4) to coordinate mouse genetic databases; and (5) to formalize the International Mouse Genome Organization. The integrated high resolution maps produced by this meeting are essential not only for studying mouse genome organization and evolution, but also for identifying mouse mutations that may be candidates for human inherited diseases. Such mutations not only are model systems for therapy but also provide important clues about metabolic function, bearing on development, immunology and cancer.
