Breeding Service

In addition to the design and custom generation of genetically engineered mouse/rat models, Cyagen’s breeding service provides reliable, economical, and efficient breeding colonies of mice/rats to support your research needs; allowing you to focus more on your research goals and less on animal care, breeding and colony management issues.

We provide the following breeding services in our AAALAC-accredited, OLAW-assured SPF facility.

Transgenic founder mice/rats breeding to F1

For most transgenic projects, the deliverables are F0 founder animals. Given that the transgenes are randomly integrated into genome, and a small percentage of founder animals display some degree of mosaicism, there is a possibility that some F0 animals do not transmit the transgene to their offspring. Cyagen will breed founder animals to wt animals of matching background, and screen F1 animals with desired mutation(s). A minimum of 2 F1 animals per line will be generated and delivered.

Note: Large cohorts of F1 or F2 animals can be generated at additional cost.

ES cell gene targeted heterozygous mice breeding to homozygous mice

1. Standard KO/KI mice breeding service

Cyagen will set up heterozygote x heterozygote breeding and screen pups by PCR for targeted mutation(s). Theoretically this breeding will produce 50% heterozygotes, 25% homozygotes and 25% wt animals. We will provide 2~4 homozygous mice per line. If no homozygotes are identified from a total of 30 pups screened, it is possible that the homozygous mutation may lead to embryonic lethality. If this is the case we will stop breeding and discuss the project with clients.

2. Conditional KO/KI mice breeding service

Cyagen can inter-cross flox/wt mice to generate flox/flox mice, and can further breed them with Cre deleter of your choice to produce tissue-specific KO/KO (or KI/KI) mice. We will deliver 2~4 flox/flox mice or 2~4 tissue-specific KO/KO (or KI/KI) mice.

3. Price and turnaround time

Note: Large cohorts of homozygous animals can be generated at additional cost.

CRISPR-mediated genome editing mice/rats breeding

Although animals generated by CRISPR-mediated genome editing carry targeted mutation(s), the founder animals are different from animals generated by ES cell gene targeting approaches in that most of the founder animals display some degree of mosaicism. Cyagen offers founder animal breeding service which allows us to deliver germline transmission-confirmed heterozygous/homozygous animals to researchers.

We guarantee generation and delivery of a minimum of 3 heterozygotes. We can further inter-cross heterozygotes and deliver homozygous animals (a minimum of 2 per line). If no homozygotes are identified from a total of 30 pups screened, it is possible that the homozygous mutation may lead to embryonic lethality. If this is the case we will stop breeding and discuss the project with clients.

Note: Large cohorts of homozygous animals can be generated at additional cost.

Colony maintenances service

• For most projects we terminate the animal colony in our facility after successful delivery of mutant animals to the client’s facility. We can maintain small colonies of mutant mouse/rat line(s) upon client’s request. The colonies will be maintained as heterozygotes/wt animal breeding pairs.

• Price: $200/line/month (mice), $300/line/month (rats)

• In addition to breeding services, Cyagen can back up your live animal colony by our embryo and sperm cryopreservation services, which can not only protect your valuable mutation strains but also reduce your cost in the long run. For more details, click here.

Guarantee

Cyagen offers the best guarantee in the industry- we guarantee delivery of the minimum number of animals described in each breeding service. However, some mutations are embryonic lethal, and some may cause infertility or reduced fertility. In these cases, our guarantee would be voided.

Order Supporting Information 

Please see below for supporting information related to Cyagen animal orders.

（https://www.cyagen.com/us/en/support/order-information.html）

Inquiries and Quote Requests

Request a quote now. Alternatively, you can always email animal-service@cyagen.com or call 800-921-8930 to inquire about our services or obtain a quote for your project.