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Archiving mouse strains by cryopreservation

Abstract

A great deal of time and energy goes into the creation of each new line of transgenic mice; established lines are expensive and labor-intensive to maintain. Archiving of mice by cryopreservation of germ cells or embryos represents a means to free up facility space, while protecting the line from loss due to environmental disasters, genetic drift, or infectious disease. The author reviews the available cryopreservation techniques and presents considerations for setting up a cryopreservation facility.

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Figure 1: Fixation of new mutations during maintenance breeding of an inbred strain.

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Correspondence to Carlisle P. Landel PhD.

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Landel, C. Archiving mouse strains by cryopreservation. Lab Anim 34, 50–57 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0405-50

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