THE WILD MICE PROJECT

Wild mice, different from laboratory inbred mice, survive in natural habitats and must adapt to numerous environmental stressors, resulting in greater genetic diversity, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), deletions, and duplication of genomic sequences. According to previous studies, wild mice have varying susceptibilities to infectious diseases and may better mimic humans for preclinical drug screening and adverse effect assessment.
To address issues associated with the use of wild mice in research, including unreliable source of wild mice, risks of microbial contamination, breeding difficulties, and the complexity of their genetic background, GemPharmatech initiated the Wild Mice Project to generate novel inbred mouse strains with only one chromosome different from the parental inbred strain by using mice captured in the wild as donor of genetic material then mating with inbred mice and screening for multiple generations. GemPharmatech successfully developed Balanced Chromosome Technology to prevent the chromosomes of wild origin from being diluted by genetic recombination during backcrossing. This technology involves chromosome inversion, which prevents the crossover of homologous chromosomes during meiosis. This technique significantly shortens the model construction timeline compared to conventional methods. A wealth of genetic material can be extracted from these newly created inbred mouse strains carrying chromosomes derived from wild mice.