Research highlight
Collaborative Cross bringing better tools to systems genetics analyses
Systems genetics promises better modeling of complex human diseases. But the robust analyses required for systems genetics research demand more extensive and precise genetic tools than the currently available mouse strains and standard intercrosses for mapping quantitative trait loci.
A large, replicable and genetically diverse collection of animals is needed to serve as a common integration point for future genetic studies. The Collaborative Cross (CC), conceived and developed in part by Gary Churchill, Ph.D., of The Jackson Laboratory, is being developed to meet the growing need.
The CC is creating a population of genetically diverse recombinant inbred mouse lines descended from eight strains of mice, all from The Jackson Laboratory (A/J, C57BL/6J, 129S1/SvImJ, NOD/LtJ, NZO/HiLtJ, CAST/Ei, PWK/PhJ and WSB/EiJ). The CC will ultimately provide a panel of approximately 1,000 lines to the research community.
Implementation of the CC began at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and internationally through support of the Wellcome Trust in 2005. Three papers published in Mammalian Genome this summer (June 3 and August 21, 2008) update progress on the project at ORNL, Tel Aviv University in Israel, current site of the Wellcome Trust component, and the Animal Resources Centre in Western Australia.
Dr. Churchill is co-author on the ORNL and Wellcome Trust papers and contributed to the Australian project. All three papers demonstrate significant progress in the CC project, with 650 lines in production at ORNL, 110 lines at Tel Aviv and hundreds more in Australia. All are being characterized with phenotypic analyses and multiple genotyping efforts.
