Signing on were the University of Tennessee medical school in Memphis, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Meharry Medical Center in Nashville and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. The consortium will combine the lab's ability to create disease mutations in its mouse populations and the partner institutions' abilities to analyze them. For instance, Meharry specializes in blood disorders while Vanderbilt has expertise in neurological research, said Barry Bervin, Director for the Joint Institute for Biological Sciences - a cooperative between UT and the Oak Ridge Lab. So from that standpoint, I think it is really a great idea. It will be linked by computers and devoted to studying genetic mutations in mice that can become models for studying mutations in human genes.
Scientists are most interested in mutations that result in or lead to disease.
Proponents see future collaborations with drug companies on potential cures. Originally the mouse house's experiments were designed to duplicate the consequences of nuclear fallout on humans. But for the last few years, the facility has been part of the government's massive Human Genome Project to map the human body's estimated 80,000 genes. Lab mice are important to this work because the arrangement of their genes is similar to those in humans. The initial mapping of the DNA sequence is expected to be done in the next few years.