Genetic quality assurance and genetic monitoring of laboratory murines

In the past years the number of mouse and rat models has increased dramatically. This is partly due to a variety of techniques developed to manipulate the genome in a targeted manner, but also to the subsequent breeding experiments to generate two-, three-, and four-fold mutants. In addition many crossing experiments have been carried out to generate a huge number of conditional mutant strains. Unfortunately, the main focus in the majority of the crossing experiments lies on the manipulated loci; whereas the genetic background of the animals is often neglected. The working group will develop recommendations for the genetic quality assurance of laboratory murines. These recommendations should be a guide to animal facilities and researchers on how animal experiments can be carried out under genetically standardized conditions so that these recommendations will also contribute to the three R’s.