Celebrating 50 years of the MMR
From our first $50,000 National Science Foundation grant in 1959 to the $5.6 million National Institutes of Health grant that supports us today, The Jackson Laboratory has gained over fifty years experience in the identification, characterization and distribution of mice with spontaneous mutations.
The future looks just as exciting as new generations of scientists armed with powerful new technologies will continue, in ways yet imagined, to discover more extraordinary insights from nature’s exceptional mice.
The Mouse Mutant Resource:
- Identifies, characterizes and distributes spontaneous mutant mice arising from the world’s largest and most diverse mouse colonies.
- Maintains about 300 established mutant stocks in active colonies and over 600 others as cryopreserved embryos or gametes.
- Contributes to a better understanding of the genetic bases of neurological, neuromuscular, sensory, metabolic, skeletal/craniofacial and developmental disorders and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
"In mice with spontaneous mutations, you notice the clinical symptoms of a disease first, and you may discover a gene that no one suspected was involved with that disorder. Spontaneous mutations in the mouse offer the opportunity for true causative gene discovery."