Community Research and Development Information Service - CORDIS

The mouse shows great similarities in development, physiology and biochemistry to humans, which makes it a key model for research into human disease. The major challenges for mouse functional genomics in the 21st century are to:
- Develop a series of mutant alleles for every gene in the mouse genome
- Determine the phenotypic consequences of each mutation
- Identify mouse models for the complete disease spectrum in humans
To exploit this emerging resource, mouse models must be preserved and made available to the European biomedical research community.

Building on EMMA's previous achievements as the primary mouse repository in Europe, EMMAservice aims to meet the future challenges presented by archiving and disseminating mouse models in the ERA as follows:
- Archiving of 1224 new mouse mutant lines in support of individual depositors and also European mouse genetics programmes
- Support of eligible customers with free of charge Transnational Access for up to 20% of requested mouse resources.
- Technology development will underpin the archiving and distribution efforts by advancing current sperm freezing technology
- Training courses will promote the shipment of frozen germplasm rather than live mice
- EMMA informatics will support user services by setting new standards for user friendly accession of EMMA services, extensive data curation and cross referencing with other mouse database resources
- Outreach efforts to attract users will be widened and addressed at the translational research community

EMMAservice will contribute significantly to the development of a world leading repository and European capacity in mouse disease model archiving and distribution, supporting the needs of the wider European biomedical research community.