New Mouse Genome Sequence Draft Means Boost for Jackson Laboratory Research
| Date: December 2002 | 
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Bar Harbor-The international scientific journal Nature is releasing a landmark paper today on a new draft sequence of the mouse genome and its implications for understanding the human genome. Jackson Laboratory Senior Staff Scientist Wayne Frankel, Ph.D., and Associate Staff Scientist Carol Bult, Ph.D., are among the more than 200 scientists credited on the Nature mouse genome paper.
Scientists in the publicly funded Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium have pieced together nearly all of the 2.5 billion chemical "letters" of the mouse genetic code. "This is a powerful new resource available to the biomedical community," notes Jackson Laboratory Director Rick Woychik, Ph.D. "It will provide radically new ways of understanding human biology and identifying the causes of human diseases and disorders."
With publication of this new, greatly enhanced draft of the mouse genome, Jackson Laboratory scientists will be integrating the genome with the wealth of biological information in the Laboratory's publicly available databases. The draft will help researchers at the Laboratory and elsewhere to "mine" the mouse genome much more effectively to find genes that cause diseases in both mouse and human.
According to Dr. Bult, "Having a publicly available mouse genome sequence draft means we can move from knowing that a general region of the genome is contributing to a disease state or biological process, to actually looking at that region and seeing directly what genes are there. It will save investigators months, if not years, of gene-hunting efforts."
Over the past century, the mouse has developed into the premier mammalian model system for genetic research. Researchers from a wide range of biomedical fields have gravitated to the mouse because of its close genetic and physiological similarities to humans, as well as the ease with which its genome can be manipulated and analyzed.
Although yeasts, worms and flies are excellent models for studying the cell cycle and many developmental processes, mice are far better tools for probing the immune, endocrine, nervous, cardiovascular, skeletal and other complex physiological systems that mammals share. Like humans and many other mammals, mice naturally develop diseases that affect these systems, including cancer, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and glaucoma. In addition, certain diseases that afflict humans but that normally do not strike mice, such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer's, can be induced by manipulating the mouse genome and environment. Adding to the mouse's appeal as a model for biomedical research is the animal's relatively low cost of maintenance and its ability to quickly multiply, reproducing as often as every nine weeks.
The Jackson Laboratory has played a crucial role in the development of the mouse into the leading model for biomedical research. Founded in 1929, the non-profit center pioneered the use of inbred laboratory mice to uncover the genetic bases of human development and disease. Today, its researchers pursue projects in areas that include cancer, development and aging, immune system and blood disorders, neurological and sensory disorders, and metabolic diseases. Informatics researchers work with the public sequencing consortium to curate and integrate the sequenced mouse genome data with the biological knowledge collected in the Laboratory's Mouse Genome Informatics resource.
In addition, Jackson Laboratory distributes 2,700 different strains and stocks as breeding mice, frozen embryos or DNA samples. In FY 2002 alone, the lab supplied approximately 2 million mice to the international scientific community. The famous "Black 6" or C57BL/6J mouse strain whose genome is being sequenced was developed in the early 1920s by Jackson Laboratory founder Clarence Cook Little.
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