Services
With over 20 years of experience in both in vivo and in vitro research models at MIT, we offer guidance, training, and hands-on assistance for both experimental and administrative support. If the service you need is not described below, we also provide many custom services including but not limited to robust experimental design, CAC protocol assistance, training for all of our services, use of specialized equipment and much more. Contact us at escore@mit.edu to discuss how we can help your work progress as swiftly and smoothly as possible.
In vivo research:
Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of Disease (GEMMs)
Using CRISPR and/or Gene Targeting, we will work with you to design and generate novel strains of mice tailored for your experiments. Together with DCM's transgenics core who performs the microinjections, we have produced over 500 new strains containing:
- point mutations, knockouts, knockins, and tags
- conditional knockouts or knockins
- novel FLEX alleles
Many labs currently design and order reagents for CRISPR editing of mouse zygotes, and we then schedule the microinjection with DCM, prepare the microinjection cocktail at our RNase-free station, and hand-deliver it to the microinjectionist.
Mouse colony expansion, strain phenotyping, and embryo analysis
We are deeply committed to the reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in research, testing, and teaching. Towards this goal, we offer many services to optimize your mouse colony and mouse experiments.
Our CAC Service protocol includes the breeding and limited analysis of any mouse strain approved under another lab’s protocol, so we can efficiently expand your colony for distribution to another MIT lab or in preparation for your upcoming study.
We maintain C57BL/6J mice (JAX 000664) in the super-clean, barrier facility for quick transfer to any animal facility on the MIT campus. We are happy to build up this colony if you need a large number of them or of another mouse strain. Just let us know so that we can plan ahead.
Other services such as drug dosing, post-surgical monitoring, collection of tissues for isolation of cells for FACS or histological analysis, etc. are available through the KI Preclinical Imaging & Testing Core, please contact Aurora at aaburds@mit.edu.
In vitro research:
Specialized Cell Culture
- Provide mycoplasma-free cell lines from our KI Cell Line Repository
- Isolate primary mouse tissue such as tumors, blastocysts, or hepatocytes
- Optimize and prepare cells for injection into animals
- Transfect cell lines of your choice to express proteins as needed
- Perform directed differentiation of mouse ES cells
- Guide you as you choose cell lines for your experiment.
Quality Control for Cells
- Weekly Mycoplasma Testing
- Bulk discount- Cell Line Authentication STR Analysis at ATCC
- IMPACT Testing- required by CAC for use in animals
- Karyotyping through Cell Line Genetics
Equipment Rental
- Amaxa Nucleofector
- GenePulser Electroporator
- NanoView Spectrometer - requires just 2uL for each measurement