The Jackson Laboratory will soon implement HighRes Biosolutions’ automated method of genotyping lab mice. This precise genotyping process will enhance the way in which numerous colonies of mice are maintained in its laboratories. This is expected to simplify the genotyping of mice so that the increasing demand for genetically modified mice can be met.
There are 38 research teams in the Jackson Laboratory focusing on the genetic reasons for human diseases, normal development and aging. The lab collaborates with more than 19,000 labs world over, and furnishes them with over 5,500 varieties of strains of mice, which are used for research on ailments such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, immune system diseases, obesity, etc.
Precise genotyping of each and every mouse for genetic mutations and markers is a must for maintaining an assorted group of strains. Once this automated HighRes process is introduced, time-consuming manual tasks such as pipetting can be made easier and the time of technicians can be saved for other challenging jobs. The genotyping process is capable of organizing lab processes and bringing down the possibility of human error. It can also speed up the sample barcoding and reformatting processes.
The Associate Director of Scientific Services of Jackson Laboratory, Kevin Johnson said that the new process from HighRes will be fed with the required data and protocols for genotyping by the lab’s information management system, and it will automatically plan routine PCRs, thus resulting in a improvement in precision, speed, and efficiency compared to that of the exisiting procedures. HighRes’ Life Science Technologies’ director expressed his excitement over partnering with Jackson Laboratory for simplifying manual tasks by means of automation.