Laboratory Animal Genetic Services
Fernando Benavides, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACLAM
Director
- Research Resources
- Core Facilities and Services
- Laboratory Animal Genetic Services
Overview
Laboratory Animal Genetic Services (LAGS), has moved to Houston. The core is now co-housed with the Genetically Engineered Mouse Facility in the Mitchell Basic Science Research Building (BSRB).
LAGS provides investigators with cost-effective, customized genetic analysis for laboratory animal studies. Polymorphic genetic markers (i.e. SNPs) are used to support speed congenic development and background strain characterization in mice and in mouse cell lines. The core is currently developing a new service that will provide allele-specific genotyping for CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out (KO) and knock-in (KI) mice. Additional services for other laboratory animal species could also be developed upon discussion. Our services also include free consultation on mouse and rat genetics, including standard nomenclature. Learn more.
Getting Started
To access LAGS services go to iLab.
Impact
LAGS provides unique services concerning genetic quality assurance (QA) of inbred strains and genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models. This is an essential component for institutions using mouse models. The services provided by LAGS are essential to verify the authenticity and uniformity of inbred stains and substrains, to detect possible genetic contamination, and to precisely describe the genetic composition of GEM lines (i.e., background characterization).
Acknowledgment
Please use the following text when acknowledging the core: “Laboratory Animal Genetics Services was supported in part by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and P30CA016672.”
Go to the Acknowledgment page to see guidelines on whether the efforts of core personnel merit authorship.
Contact
Facility Director:
Fernando Benavides, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACLAM
Professor, Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis
Mitchell Basic Sciences Research Building
Office: BSRB S2.8016
Phone: 832-750-0136 (ext. 00136)
Email: fbenavid@mdanderson.org
Senior Research Scientist
Carlos Perez, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Mitchell Basic Sciences Research Building
Office: BSRB S2.8017
Phone: 832-750-0142 (ext. 00142)
Email: CJPerez@mdanderson.org
Coming Soon:
New Genotyping Service
LAGS is developing a new service to provide gene-specific genotyping for KO and KI mice generated using CRISPR/Cas9 to identify small indels and single nucleotide variants. Please contact Dr. Benavides for more information.
Now Available:
New ~10K SNP Panel
LAGS is pleased to offer a new, comprehensive, 10K SNP panel in addition to our standard 100 SNP panel for GEM and mouse ES cell background characterization needs. Please contact Dr. Benavides for more information.
GEMF
LAGS is part of the Genetically Engineered Mouse Facility