Cryopreservation of Transgenic Mouse Lines

A transgenic animal represents an enormous investment in time and money. Animals can be destroyed through disease, fire, malfuncnons in the control of the environment, negligence, sabotage, or accidental disposal. Researchers can protect valuable transgenic lines from accrdental destruction by “banking” them in liquid nitrogen. Cryopreservation can also reduce animal costs by decreasing the number of live animals investigators must maintain. Often, when one is trying to produce a transgenic animal, some lines will be derived that may not initially appear interesting. These animals can be stored in liquid nitrogen for future recovery and study. The maintenance of just one line of mice, say 25 mice at 15 cents/d, can cost over $1000 (US) in a single year.