Diabetes Dateline
Fall 2007

Research News

NIH Funds Knockout Mouse Repository

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is creating a repository for its Knockout Mouse Project, a trans-NIH initiative to increase the availability of genetically altered mice and related materials. The repository will archive, maintain, and distribute up to 8,500 strains of embryonic stem cell clones, live mouse lines, frozen embryos and sperm, and vectors.

Knockout mice are lines of mice in which specific genes have been completely disrupted, or knocked out. Researchers can use knockout mice to develop better models of many inherited human diseases.

“Knockout mice are useful tools that allow researchers to study human conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease and then translate discoveries into cures and treatments that will improve public health,” said Barbara Alving, M.D., director of the NIH National Center for Research Resources. “This initiative will ensure knockout mouse strains are made available to the research community in an economical and timely manner.”

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is one of several NIH institutes supporting the $50 million Knockout Mouse Project. Nearly $5 million of that amount supports the creation and maintenance of the repository, which is overseen by the University of California, Davis, and the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, CA.

For more information about the Knockout Mouse Project, visit www.komp.org. To request information or products, researchers can call 1–888–KOMP–MICE (566–7642) or send an email to service@komp.org.

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NIH Publication No. 08–4562
October 2007