Taconic Biosciences is the only comprehensive provider of microbiome product and service solutions, a world leader in germ-free husbandry, and has produced germ-free rodent models since 1961.
Taconic offers three key models as off-the-shelf germ-free mice for immediate delivery in typical study sizes, as well as two new constitutive knockout models. Germ-free mice are devoid of all microorganisms (as determined within the limitations of the detection methods available), including bacteria, fungi and viruses; they have no microbiome. Strict Taconic husbandry and testing programs ensure that these mice remain germ-free; to assure preservation of the Germ Free health standard of your animals during shipping, Taconic has designed and constructed a unique container system, the germ-free shipper.
What our customers say:
“Seres relies on Taconic's germ-free mice to study the microbiome and our drug candidates.”
Seres Therapeutics
What our customers say:
“Federation Bio utilizes Taconic's germ-free mouse models to advance our pre-clinical research programs. As an early stage microbiome biotech company, Taconic has been a valuable partner in our pre-clinical research.”
Federation Bio
Germ-free mice may be maintained as germ-free long-term or they may be associated with a custom microbiota. Taconic provides custom association services using customer-provided materials.
C57BL/6, also called Black 6 or B6, is the most commonly used inbred strain. It is the preferred background strain for most genetically engineered mouse models.
B6 is a versatile mouse strain. It is the preferred strain for diet-induced obesity studies. It is used in a number of autoimmune disease models, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model. For oncology, B6 has been used in syngeneic tumor models. It is also used in addiction, behavior, toxicology and many other research areas.
The Taconic B6, C57BL/6NTac, is the substrain from which most B6 embryonic stem (ES) cells have been derived. The KOMP and MPC programs use C57BL/6NTac-derived ES cells.
Immunology: Th1-biased
More information and pricing is available on the Black 6 page.
Availability: Germ Free Black 6 mice are available for immediate delivery. Study cohorts available of 100+.
Germ Free BALB/c
Taconic is the only commercial provider of germ-free BALB/c mice.
Strain snapshot:
BALB/c is a commonly used, general purpose inbred strain with good reproductive performance.
BALB/c is widely used for immunology studies. It displays good antibody production and is often used for vaccine studies and production of monoclonal antibodies. BALB/c is widely used for syngeneic tumor model studies as well as in asthma and allergy studies.
Immunology: Th2-biased
More information and pricing is available on the BALB/c page.
Availability: Germ Free BALB/c mice are available in small cohort quantities.
Germ Free Swiss Webster
Taconic is the only commercial provider of germ-free Swiss Webster mice.
Strain snapshot:
Swiss Webster is a general purpose outbred strain with excellent reproductive performance.
Extensively used for decades as an all-purpose stock for research and drug safety testing. Swiss Webster is also commonly used for gnotobiotic support. GF Swiss Webster mice are excellent embryo recipients or foster mothers.
More information and pricing is available on the Swiss Webster page.
Availability:Germ Free Swiss Webster mice are available for immediate delivery. Study cohorts available of 50+.
Germ Free Il10 Knockout (B6 and BALB/c)
Taconic is the only commercial provider of germ-free Il10 Knockout mice.
Strain snapshot:
Il10 Knockout mice are useful for studying colitis and immunoregulatory pathways.
Colitis severity and onset are expected to vary by genetic background in Il10 knockouts, with reported earlier onset and greater severity in BALB/c vs. C57BL/6 backgrounds (J Clin Invest. 1996 Aug 15;98(4):1010-20).
Watch the following Taconic video "Flexible Film Isolator Demonstration" to see a detailed demonstration on how to work with a germ-free isolator and pack a germ-free shipper. Step-by-step unpacking instructions for the germ-free shipper can be found on our animal shipping products page.
