For
over 50 years, the Mouse Genetics Research Facility (MGRF) at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has attracted a highly qualified
staff of mouse geneticists and molecular biologists who use its
standard and mutant strains of laboratory mice for basic research
in analyzing gene function and identifying mouse models of human
genetic disease. In May 2004 the MGRF opened a new, 36,000-ft2
vivarium on the main ORNL campus at ORNL. This new vivarium,
the William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative
and Functional Genomics, is being operated by Bionetics, Inc.,
as a specific-pathogen-free barrier facility with a capacity
for 60,000 mice. Mouse strains, rederived from the transfer of
two-cell stage embryos, are housed in ventilated racks with automated
watering systems; basic husbandry is provided by certified technical
staff. |