Archiving of mouse strains

Archiving of mouse strains through cryopreservation of spermatozoa or embryos offer several key benefits both from a research point of view and from a 3R (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) perspective:

• One avoids genetic drift, which occurs through the introduction of random mutations in the genome in every new breeding generation.
• One avoids housing cost of keeping mice that are not currently being used.
• It functions as a safety backup in case of a event in the animal facility (fire, flooding, pathogen outbreak, etc).
• It facilitates import and export of strains since they can be shipped in a frozen state.
• One can eliminate most mouse pathogens during the procedure and thereby “cleanse” an infected strain into SPF conditions.

Archiving mouse strains 

We offer archiving of mouse strains either as spermatozoa or as embryos. Which format to choose depends on several factors including strain background, zygosity needs, how often re-derivation of the strain is anticipated, etc. A more detailed guide on what the requirements are with the different methods of cryoarchiving will soon be available here.

If you are the creator of a genetically modified mouse mutant you can archive your strain free of charge through EMMA (please see below).

Archiving through the European Mouse Mutant Archive

The European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) is a not-for-profit repository to collect, archive and distribute genetically modified mouse mutants for biomedical research. It is made up of a network of several scientific institutions throughout Europe.

EMMA's primary objective is to establish and manage a unified repository for maintaining medically relevant mouse mutants and making them available to the scientific community.

Archiving through EMMA:

• safe back-up free of charge (except for shipment costs)
• display of the strain on the International Mouse Strain Resource (IMSR)
• two years grace period before making the strain available to the scientific community
• any existing MTAs remain in effect.

Further information and submission form available at The European Mouse Mutant Archive.