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Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine Receives Second Installation of OmniBank(R) II Mouse Gene Knockout Library

Posted on: Thursday, 25 January 2007, 12:01 CST

The Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine (TIGM) announced today that the second installation of its OmniBank II library of knockout mouse embryonic stem cell clones has been completed by Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (Nasdaq:LEXG). The second installation contains more than 100,000 clones, bringing the total number of clones to more than 200,000 contained in TIGM's OmniBank II library.

Each clone represents an embryonic stem cell line generated in the C57BL/6 mouse genetic background in which a single gene has been disrupted, or knocked out. More than 8,200 distinct genes are currently included in the library and can be accessed by researchers worldwide as breeding pairs of knockout mice.

TIGM's OmniBank II library is now expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007, well ahead of schedule. When complete, the library will be comprised of 350,000 mouse embryonic stem cell clones. The library is located at TIGM's facilities in Houston's Texas Medical Center. Construction is underway of new facilities in College Station, Texas, to house one copy of the library and mouse breeding facilities, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2007.

"In less than 18 months, the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine has amassed a huge resource of knockout mice for use in therapeutic discovery by researchers worldwide," said Richard H. Finnell, Ph.D., executive director and president of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine. "The cell lines in our OmniBank II library have been engineered to enable researchers to study the involvement of specific genes in a wide variety of diseases and conditions. We believe the research potential of OmniBank II will prove to be very important in the advancement of human and veterinary health."

Through TIGM's agreement with Lexicon, the Institute can also generate and distribute knockout mice to academic researchers from Lexicon's original OmniBank library of 270,000 mouse embryonic stem cell lines in the 129SvEv genetic background. Researchers interested in obtaining knockout mice generated from either OmniBank and OmniBank II mouse embryonic stem cell clones should contact the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine at www.tigm.org.

About the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine (TIGM)

TIGM is a not-for-profit institution created in 2005 to pioneer the development of life-changing medical breakthroughs, accelerate the pace of medical discoveries and to foster the development of the biotechnology industry in Texas. To that end, TIGM helps researchers gain faster, more cost-effective access to the genetically engineered knockout mice they need to help speed research to find the cure for human diseases and conditions. TIGM owns and maintains the world's largest catalogues of embryonic stem cells for C57BL/6 mice in the world. In addition, TIGM has contracted access to the world's largest catalog of genetically modified 129 mouse cells, with more than 272,000 stem cell clones available. The Institute headquarters and laboratory facilities are based in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, with additional facilities currently under construction in College Station, Texas.

OmniBank® is a registered trademark of Lexicon Genetics Incorporated.

Source: Business Wire

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