Mapping the Dragon Genome
Fall 2009As part of the GeniQuest Educational Program, Scientists at The Jackson Laboratory have successfully mapped the genome of the dragon, pinpointing the genetic factors behind such traits as forked tails, webbed wings and the ability to breathe fire.

Methods for constructing revolutionary mouse genotyping array
August 9, 2009In early 2009, The Jackson Laboratory began offering services using the JAX® Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array, the most advanced high-density mouse genome-wide profiling array available. The array was designed by Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena Ph.D., University of North Carolina, and Gary Churchill Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory, both of The Center for Genome Dynamics, in cooperation with Affymetrix, and was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. [ Press Release ]

Watch an interview of Professor Churchill answering the following questions:

• How did you choose the array’s SNPs? (4:08)
  
• How did you ensure the array’s reliability? (2:07)
  
• How are IGPs different from SNPs, and how will they increase the array’s utility? (4:23)
  
• What are some of the quality control measures you used to validate the array? (3:28)
  
• What will be some to the most important uses of the array? (2:41)
  
• How will the array help researchers identify genes associated with disease? (3:35)

Diversity Outbred and Collaborative Cross Mice to Offer Maximum Allelic Variation
Summer 2009In its quest to provide even more powerful genetically distinct mouse resources, JAX is developing a population of Diversity Outbred (DO) mice, designed to maximize allelic variation throughout the genome. Each DO mouse will be genetically unique, and groups of them will approximate the genetic diversity found in human populations.

Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array Service launched utilizing array developed by Center researchers
February 12, 2009BAR HARBOR, Maine - The Jackson Laboratory now offers a new Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array Service utilizing an innovative genotyping microarray. Designed for high-density, genome-wide profiling of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the array was developed in the laboratories of Drs. Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena (University of North Carolina) and Gary Churchill (The Jackson Laboratory), both of The Center for Genome Dynamics. This cutting-edge research tool, produced and sold by Affymetrix, provides more than 100 times the SNP coverage than any other available mouse array, permitting high resolution mapping and genomic analysis.

The Quick and the Bed – Center researchers second in Bar Harbor competition
November 22, 2008BAR HARBOR, Maine — Bed might sound like a good place to spend a snowy Saturday morning. But racing in that bed down Cottage Street? That’s even better — and silly, slippery fun.

Center High School Mentorships Praised
November 20, 2008If hands-on is the way to teach science, hands-on in a real scientist’s lab has got to be the ultimate, right? More programs think so, and they are finding ways to make in happen for high school students.

Randomization in laboratory procedure is key to obtaining reproducible microarray results
November 14, 2008The quality of gene expression microarray data has improved dramatically since the first arrays were introduced in the late 1990s. However, the reproducibility of data generated at multiple laboratory sites remains a matter of concern, especially for scientists who are attempting to combine and analyze data from public repositories. We have carried out a study in which a common set of RNA samples was assayed five times in four different laboratories using Affymetrix GeneChip arrays. We observed dramatic differences in the results across laboratories and identified batch effects in array processing as one of the primary causes for these differences. When batch processing of samples is confounded with experimental factors of interest it is not possible to separate their effects, and lists of differentially expressed genes may include many artifacts. This study demonstrates the substantial impact of sample processing on microarray analysis results and underscores the need for randomization in the laboratory as a means to avoid confounding of biological factors with procedural effects.

Center Professor Ken Paigen receives Fulbright Senior Specialists Award
October 7, 2008Kenneth Paigen, Ph.D., professor and executive research fellow at The Jackson Laboratory, has been selected for a Fulbright Senior Specialists project in France at Pasteur Institute during November 2008, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Strains of laboratory mice more varied than previously thought
July 29, 2007CHAPEL HILL - A collaborative study by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has found that the genetic variation in the most widely used strains of laboratory mice is vastly greater than previously thought.

Inside the Lab-Mouse Factory
May 22, 2007How do complex networks of genes control obesity, cancer, and heart disease? The unique inbred rodents of the Jackson Laboratory may hold the answer.

High BMI doesn’t always spell obesity, Center researchers show
July 20, 2006 Bar Harbor, Maine - For years doctors have used the body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height and weight, to characterize the clinical weight status of their patients. The lower the number, the presumption goes, the leaner the person, and anyone with a BMI above 30 is characterized as obese and at high risk for the associated complications. But the BMI has come under scrutiny lately, and other techniques that measure how the weight is distributed on the body are thought to provide a better way to assess risk. Now a study in mice by scientists at The Jackson Laboratory indicates that the usefulness of the BMI is suspect even at the genetic level.

NIGMS Announces New Systems Biology Centers
March 30, 2006 Two new multidisciplinary centers have joined an ongoing effort supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to develop new strategies and tools for studying the complexity of biological systems. The centers will integrate experimental and computational approaches into research, technology development, and outreach programs. The findings from these projects will advance our understanding of basic biological processes and the role they play in human health.

Jackson Laboratory awarded $15.1M federal grant for new, "systems" approach to genetics researchMarch 30, 2006 Bar Harbor, Maine - A $15.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant has been awarded to a team of Jackson Laboratory researchers with a new, "systems" approach to studying the genetics of health and disease. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is awarding the five-year grant for $15,073,585 under a "National Centers for Systems Biology" program. The new center's goal: to understand how the 30,000 or so genes every human is born with interact to develop a healthy individual or lead to diseases.