title: The case for genetic monitoring of mice and rats used in biomedical research.
abstract: Currently, there is the potential to generate over 200,000 mutant mouse strains between existing mouse strains (over 24,000) and genetically modified mouse embryonic stem cells (over 209,000) that have been entered into the International Mouse Strain Resource Center (IMSR) from laboratories and repositories all over the world. The number of rat strains is also increasing exponentially. These mouse and rat mutants are a tremendous genetic resource; however, the awareness of their genetic integrity such as genetic background and genotyping of these models is not always carefully monitored. In this review, we make a case for the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS), which is interested in promoting and helping academic institutions develop a genetic monitoring program to bring a level of genetic quality assurance into the scientific interchange and use of mouse and rat genetically mutant models.
authors: Laboratory Animal Health Services Department, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA. jim.fahey@jax.org
authors: James R
authors: JR
authors: Fahey
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Katoh
authors: Rachel
authors: R
authors: Malcolm
authors: Ana V
authors: AV
authors: Perez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D001947:Breeding / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D007756:Laboratory Animal Science / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D011786:Quality Control; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*