The Jackson Laboratory was founded in 1929 as one of the world’s first centers for the study of cancer genetics. The independent, nonprofit laboratory has grown to become a leader in mammalian genetics and genomics research and education, and a major provider of genetic resources to the scientific community worldwide. The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center (JAXCC) first received its National Cancer Institute designation in 1983 in recognition of the foundational cancer research conducted here. The JAXCC is one of seven NCI-designated Cancer Centers with a focus on basic research. With a dual presence on our campuses in Bar Harbor, Maine and Farmington, CT we integrate the distinct capabilities of each campus in basic and translational cancer research which strengthens the translational pipeline to move discoveries to clinical application.
From its earliest days, discoveries at JAX have always been powered by collaboration, including the discovery in 1933 of a “non-chromosomal influence in the incidence of mammary tumors in mice,” which was published in the journal Science that year by the “staff of Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory.” This work led to the discovery of the milk-borne mouse mammary tumor virus, a key finding for the later understanding of the role of viruses and oncogenes in cancer.
As technological innovations made possible both precise and genome-scale manipulation of the mouse genome, JAX has continued to serve as a creator of new genetic and information resources and an innovator in methods to analyze the mammalian genome.
A hallmark strength of JAX has long been in the investigation of complex genetic mechanisms using well-defined mouse strains and stocks. In the last decade, researchers here have made substantive achievements in creating new model systems for the complexity of human cancers and human populations, such as the Diversity Outbred (DO) mice. The DO mice maximize allele diversity and mimic the heterozygosity of the human population. The stock was derived from the founder strains of the Collaborative Cross, a large population of inbred mouse strains developed through a community effort, including JAX researchers. The CC mice provide a reference population specifically designed for the integrative analysis of complex systems.
With the opening of the JAX Genomic Medicine campus in Farmington, Conn., in 2012, the JAX Cancer Center has added a focus on human cancer genomics; genome biology; quantitative cell biology; computational biology; and analytics, all centered on precision medicine. This translational component complements and accelerates the capabilities at the JAX Cancer Center to move basic discovery toward clinical impact. JAX Genomic Medicine quickly developed a cadre of outstanding cancer researchers and technological innovators. They have opened new areas of research for the JAX Cancer Center, including cancer vaccines, the microbiome and cancer, and human cancer genomics in tumor evolution. Technological innovations include a single cell biology laboratory, a CLIA-certified clinical genomics laboratory, and a wealth of next generation genomic technologies. Among the discoveries since this major addition to the JAXCC are: a particular genomic configuration, the tandem duplicator phenotype, that is frequent in triple negative breast cancer and certain other cancers and is predictive of response to cisplatin; the role of extrachromosomal DNA in driving progression of glioblastoma; and a genomic signature in aging immune cells that is a potential biomarker for immune dysfunction and increased systemic inflammation.
Our members at the JAX Genomic Medicine (JGM) campus focus on human cancer genomics; genome biology; quantitative cell biology; computational biology; and analytics, all centered on precision medicine. This translational component complements and accelerates the capabilities at the JAX Cancer Center to move basic discovery toward clinical impact. Members at JGM research cancer vaccines, the microbiome and cancer, and human cancer genomics in tumor evolution. Recent discoveries include: a particular genomic configuration, the tandem duplicator phenotype that is characterized by hundreds of specific genomic structural mutations generating unique combinations of oncogenic events to drive cancer. the role of extrachromosomal DNA in driving progression of glioblastoma; and a genomic signature in aging immune cells that is a potential biomarker for immune dysfunction and increased systemic inflammation.
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