Line Rescue

When a unique breeding colony stops producing, researchers can be faced with a significant challenge to continuing their experiments. Our line rescue service can diagnose, plan and recover these breeding colonies, allowing research to continue and breeding goals to be met. Over the past two decades, Charles River has rescued hundreds of unique lines that have stopped breeding due to age, phenotype, physical handicap and/or genetics.  

The first step to rescuing your line is to determine the cause of the reduced or absent breeding performance. We have a variety of tools at our disposal to accomplish this task, including:

  • Superovulation followed by oocyte collection and analysis to determine female fertility
  • Computerized sperm analysis to determine male fertility
  • Observational matings to determine copulation ability
  • Embryo collection and analysis at various stages to determine if implantation and growth are occurring

Once the cause and severity of the fertility problem has been assessed, we have several services specifically designed to overcome the issue, including:

  • Foster nursing
  • Ovarian transplantation
  • Artificial insemination
  • Laser-assisted in vitro fertilization (IVF)
  • Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

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Genotyping Services

Our full-service genetic testing laboratory can test embryos or neonatal pups to determine if a particular gene is interfering with development.

Animal Health Testing

Our state-of-the-art animal diagnostic testing laboratories can discover if a particular disease is interfering with normal reproduction.