NHLBI Transgenic Core

National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The mission of our core is to assist NIH scientists in generating genetically engineered animal models for biomedical research. Genome engineering technologies have been advancing at a rapid pace in recent years, especially the so-called CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) method has dramatically changed the way animal models are created. In the past several years, our core has spent a significant portion of our efforts on keeping up with the latest technological developments and efficiently applying them to animal model generation. During the past year, our core has successfully generated several dozens of knockout and knockin mouse models for our users. Most of these projects were completed using cutting edge CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, but we have continued to offer services using conventional genetic engineering and embryo micromanipulation methods, including generating transgenic mice using pronuclear microinjection, rederiving/resurrecting mouse lines using in vitro fertilization, and assessing stem cell differentiation propensities through teratoma formation assays. Our core is also actively developing new capabilities by incorporating latest gene-editing technologies into our services, especially in the area of using viral vectors for potential gene-editing experiments in adult animals. In addition, we have also devoted a significant portion of our efforts on optimizing conditions and streamlining procedures for reducing animal costs and increasing productivity. These efforts have led to about one dozen co-authored publications.