breeding & aging services 

We know that there are many challenges associated with breeding and aging genetically engineered rodents. At Charles River, we offer knowledge, skills, and support services to assist you with the process. Our portfolio of services includes: production breeding of genetically modified animals, with careful considerations paid to producing the appropriate zygosities for delivery of study populations; backcrossing programs, including our speed congenics service (MAX-BAX^SM) to situate the genetic modification onto a defined inbred background; and intercrossing animals containing different genetic modifications to create multiple-construct models. We have extensive experience in breeding all types of genetically modified models, including knockout, knockin, knockdown, conditional, and transgenic.

As an alternative to our production breeding services, we offer our rapid colony expansion program that utilizes In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to produce large-scale colonies in a short period of time. Also, for new colonies that need expansion, cryopreservation, and rederivation, we have a comprehensive colony startup package designed to simplify the initial phase a colony development. Further, short- and long-term aging programs are available for all models. All animals are housed in our isolator system, ensuring that the highest level of biosecurity and genetic integrity are maintained. It is our goal to be a valuable research partner to turn to when space or resources are limited and to become an extension of your internal efforts.