Taconic Insights

"What do you mean you don't have the animals I need available? You've always had them before. Don't you know this will delay lifesaving research and possibly cost me my grant?" Supply chain disruptions for critical business components isn't an uncommonly rare event. In fact, disruptions, disasters, and accidents occur often. Incorporating business continuity planning into your colony management strategy is the only way to keep your...

Segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB, provisional classification Candidatus Savagella) are commensal microorganisms endemic to all vertebrate classes, including mice and humans. SFB are notable for their ability to modulate adaptive host immune responses, including induction of regulatory Th17 T cells, Peyer's patch maturation, and gut IgA production1-3. A recent study from the laboratory of Joyce Wu at the University of Arizona has revealed a novel innate immune function...

More than 45 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD) or dementia. The costs are staggering, and no cure exists. Development of new therapies has been challenging, with many promising new drugs failing in late stage clinical trials. Inducing Immune Response in AD Mouse Models Interest in new therapeutic pathways was piqued in 2016, when Baruch et al. reported that PD-1 checkpoint inhibition induced an immune...

In a recent webinar, Dr. Michael Briggs and Mrs. Nikole Siegmund of Woodland Biosciences discussed use of diet-induced obese (DIO) mice for metabolic disease research. The speakers explained how DIO mice can be used in a range of study types, including: Obesity reduction Obesity-related inflammation Diabetes readouts such as glucose Obesity-related cancer Examples of typical studies using real (anonymized) data were shown. Obesity-driven metabolic diseases, including non-alcoholic...

Favored for their relative speed, versatility, and translational relevance, humanized mice engrafted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are the go-to preclinical models for evaluating T-cell-dependent immunotherapies. However, lacking important human cytokine signals, huPBMC-NOG and other PBMC models fail to support engraftment of important human immune cell subtypes, such as natural killer (NK) cells. This limits their utility for many studies. Recent work from Taconic Biosciences...

The preclinical research community responded enthusiastically to Dr. Paul Volden's recent webinar, Next Generation Humanized Mice in Immuno-Oncology, the second webinar in a two-part series on humanized mice for preclinical immuno-oncology (IO). Several questions had to be cut from the presentation for time and are presented here, in full. Preclinical Immuno-Oncology Q&A Dr. Paul Volden (PV): The number of cells obtained from individual hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)...

Download Taconic Biosciences' new infographic, Translational Microbiome at a Glance, for valuable insights into the translational aspects of microbiome research. Intended for those just beginning their work, Translational Microbiome at a Glance covers critical introductory subjects such as: The six factors that shape the mouse microbiome — and study endpoints Disease associations that can impact experimental performance Investment and intellectual property status Applications of germ-free mice in...

UPDATE: This White Paper has been updated in 2018 to reflect the latest technological advances and usage recommendations of CRISPR/Cas in the generation of research models. CRISPR/Cas gene editing has emerged as a versatile technology for inducing precise genetic alterations in a number of different species, including mice and rats. Given the importance of genetically engineered mice in modeling human disease, the power of CRISPR has the...

National Vital Statistics System Mortality Data — United States, 2001-2010 (Deaths) Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a growing problem. An estimated 10 million people are affected annually worldwide by TBI, and the burden of mortality and morbidity that imposes on society makes TBI a pressing public health and medical problem1. The populations most at risk are children, teens, and the elderly and TBI contributes to numerous hospital...

In May 2018 researchers at the University of California-Davis and Université de Strasbourg published a paper titled, A Population Study of Common Ocular Abnormalities in C57BL/6N rd8 Mice in the journal, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. C57BL/6N mice, which carry the rd8 mutation, are the most commonly used model for generation of knockout models. This study looked at a large cohort of C57BL/6N mice which were sourced...