Why is Taconic Changing its Genotyping Codes
Hudson, New York — October 20, 2014 - As part of Taconic’s commitment to better serve its clients, we have decided to change the way we document our genotyping codes. Historically, Taconic has used a one-letter genotyping code to document mutated alleles. However, due to the increase in complexity of mutant allele types and the challenges of documenting them, Taconic has decided to replace its old genotyping codes with a new classification system.Industry-wide there are no standards on the way genotyping codes should be documented and classified. As a result, most institutions have recorded them in a variety of ways. This presents a problem when exchanging or sharing information regarding genetically modified animals between donor and recipient institutions, often leading to confusion and potential errors. To address this issue, Taconic has generated a new set of genotyping codes based on feedback we received from a variety of leading pharmaceutical companies and universities.
Taconic’s new set of genotyping codes was developed to make it easier to interpret the type of mutant allele carried by genetically modified models. Additionally, the new codes document both alleles, therefore providing the zygosity of the animal. For example, the new code will allow immediate understanding if the model is genetically humanized or if it is a simple knock out. It will also clearly differentiate between mice that are heterozygous or homozygous for an allele.
How will this Affect You
This transition is being deployed in two phases. The first phase will be rolled out the week of October 20, 2014 and will continue until January 2015. During these last months of 2014 you will see that Sales Order Confirmations for commercial models sent by Customer Service for orders delivering in 2015 with inventory born in 2014 will carry the previous genotyping codes; orders delivering in 2015 with inventory born in 2015 will carry the new genotyping codes. For the rest of 2014 the Sales Order Confirmations will still reflect the one letter code because the inventory was already created using the old one letter genotyping code. For Custom Breeding Projects the change will be from the one letter code to an interim genotype description in eTACONIC® of HOM (HOMozygous), HET (HETerozygous), WT (Wild Type), HEMI (HEMIzygous), CAR (CARrier).The second phase will be the final roll-out on January 2015, and you will see the full change to the new genotyping codes on our website and in many other reports such as shipment documents, COPC, shipping labels, etc. This implementation will allow GEMs Management customers to view in eTACONIC® the genotype of their animals either by using the new genotyping codes or the simple description of HOM, HET, WT, etc. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us. If you need to verify how the new genotyping codes relate to the old codes please refer to the above links.