InfrafrontierGR/Phenotypos

The use of transgenic mouse models, i.e. mice with modified genetic material resulting in enhancement or suppression of the expression of genes of interest, has proven to be invaluable both for understanding basic biological principles, as well as for revealing mechanisms of disease. Numerous diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and others, have been modeled in mice to date, such that they are similar both in etiology and function to their human equivalent, allowing scientists to screen and test new drugs for their diagnosis and treatment. The rapid technical developments of the last decade in genetic engineering, together with a shift towards large scale functional genomics projects, has already resulted in a very large number of transgenic animal models of various diseases, offering a unique opportunity for new drug development. An essential task for biomedical sciences in the 21st century will be the generation of mouse mutations for every gene in the mouse genome, creating a vital resource of models for the study of human disease. The functional analysis of mammalian genomes drives the new era of genomic and personalized medicine. In this context, Research Infrastructures (RIs) exploiting the mouse as a disease model constitute pillars for biotechnological and clinical innovation.

INFRAFRONTIER is the ESFRI infrastructure for archiving and phenotyping model mammalian genomes. INFRAFRONTIER aims to build a world-class research infrastructure that provides the biomedical research community with the tools needed to unravel the role of gene function in human disease.

INFRAFRONTIER aims to:

• Provide access to mouse models, data, and scientific platforms and services to study the functional role of the genome in human health and disease.

• Archive and distribute scientifically valuable mouse strains through the European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA), one of the worlds leading mouse repositories.

• Provide access to a whole-organism, systemic analysis of genotype-phenotype interactions using cutting-edge analytical and diagnostic methodology in the INFRAFRONTIER mouse clinics.

• Provide bottom-up access for individual scientists and research groups and top-down capacities for large-scale international initiatives such as the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC).