Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facilty
The Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facility of the Jackson Laboratory (NMF) was established to produce new neurological mouse models that could serve as experimental models for the exploration of basic neurobiological mechanisms and diseases. The impetus for the program resulted from the recognition that a) the value of genomic data would remain limited unless more information about the functionality of its individual components became available, and b) the task of linking genes to specific behavior would best be accomplished by employing a combination of different approaches. In an effort to complement already existing programs, the Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facility decided to use: a random, genome-wide approach to mutagenesis, i.e.N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) as the mutagen; a three-generation back-cross breeding scheme to focus on the detection of recessive mutations; behavioral screens selective for the detection of phenotypes deemed useful for the program goals.
The resulting mutant mouse lines have been available to the scientific community for the last five years and over 700 NMF mice have been sent to interested investigators for research; these mutant mouse lines will remain available as frozen embryos (which can be re-derived on request) and can be ordered through the JAX customer service at 1-800-422-6423 (or 207-288-5845). The results of the work of the Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facility and that of two other neurogenesis centers, i.e. The Neurogenomics Project at Northwestern University, and the Neuromutagenesis Project of the Tennessee Mouse Genome Consortium, can also be seen at Neuromice.org, a common web site of these three research centers; in addition, information about all mutants produced by these groups has been recorded in MGI.
The work of these three research centers has been made possible through grants from The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, The National Institute of Drug Abuse, The National Institute of Mental Health, The National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, The National Institute of Aging, The National Eye Institute, and The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and was supported through August 2006.
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| AVAILABLE NOW | All currently available mutant mouse lines | |
