Genetically Engineered Mouse Models

http://www.mcdb.arizona.edu/facultyResearchDetail.cfm?netid=tdoetsch

In recent years, scientists have advanced the use of genetic engineering to produce mice that closely mirror humans with certain diseases. These mice, known as mouse models, are crucial to basic research aimed at understanding diseases and to developing new treatments.

The Genetically Engineered Mouse Model facility, or GEMM Core, makes this technology available to biomedical researchers worldwide.

Mice, which have 99 per cent of their genes in common with humans, can be produced with mutations in those genes, a research technique that was recognized with the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine.

'It enables us to make precise, preplanned modifications in a mouse gene and then to generate a new strain of mouse which is different only in that single genetic change,' said Phil Sanford, director of the GEMM Core.

Any Arizona researcher can request development of a new mouse strain with a specific gene modification, Sanford said, and the GEMM Core Facility will generate that particular new mouse strain.

The GEMM Core began operations in late 2007. It was founded by Thomas Doetschman, of the UA department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, the Arizona Cancer Center and BIO5. Doetschman has been at the forefront of this developing technology for more than 20 years.

The use of mouse models of human genetic diseases places Arizona researchers at a significant competitive advantage in obtaining grant support for biomedical research. Using this technology, researchers have come up with hundreds of mouse models of conditions like heart disease, varied types of cancer, sickle cell anemia, diabetes and cystic fibrosis.

'These mouse models can provide important new insights into diseases that may not otherwise be obtained because of the unethical nature of carrying out untested or experimental technologies on humans with these diseases,' Doetschman said.

In addition, Doetschman said, the presence of mouse genetic engineering technology dramatically elevates the attractiveness of Arizona's institutions when they recruit top research faculty and students.

'Using genetically engineered mouse models of human diseases will enhance the ability of Arizona researchers to make significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of human genetic, metabolic and developmental diseases,' Doetschman said.