International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium

High throughput mouse phenotyping has now begun a new chapter and entered a truly global phase with the advent of the International Mouse Knock-out Consortium (IKMC) and the International Mouse Phenotyping Consoritum (IMPC). The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) will deliver an invaluable resource of mice and associated phenotypic data for the elucidation of mammalian gene function. These resources will produce a paradigm shift in our understanding of basic molecular, cellular and systems biology, as well as feed the biopharma discovery pipeline by generating new knowledge about human disease, medicine and drug discovery. The study of novel genes and the phenotyping of the mutant mice and particularly knockout (KO) mice provide the opportunity to unlock new areas of biology and truly lead to novel drug target discovery.

Building on the activities of the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC), which aims to create a genome-wide collection of knock-out embryonic stem cells, the IMPC will establish a network of mouse phenotyping centers to deliver high quality, freely accessible data and mouse resources of lasting value to the research community. The Consortium will be built around the core facilities of the existing major mouse phenotyping centers, and will engage the scientific expertise and leadership of the wider scientific community to ensure that the resources generated are of maximum utility to the biomedical and clinical sciences communities. The IMPC will implement and coordinate the following: technology development; standard operational procedures; data analysis; and, resource archiving and distribution pipelines.

MRC Harwell will be one of the hubs for the IMPC and will deliver phenotypic data to the scientific community for up to 100 mutant lines a year from 2012.

Visit the IMPC Website