Policy Statement on Use of the NIA Aged Mouse Colony

Due to the serious loss resulting from genetic contamination of the C57BL/6 breeding mice in the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Aged Mouse Colony in two barriers at Harlan Sprague Dawley, the NIA is forced to restrict access to the remaining aging mice in the colony. The following policy is effective immediately and will continue in effect until revised or revoked by the NIA.

• New orders for C57BL/6 or CB6F1 aged mice, from barrier 218B (unaffected by the genetic contamination, helicobacter-positive), will be restricted to NIA grantees.
• B6C3F1 and B6D2F1 strains in the aging colony were only housed in barrier 202C and are therefore all compromised by the genetic contamination of the C57BL/6 breeding colony. It will be 2004 before these strains are available from the new barrier.
• Other strains of mice in the aging colony, BALB/c, CBA and DBA/2, will be restricted to NIA grantees or current users of those strains, i.e. investigators who have received the strain within the past 12 months.
• All users of the aging mouse colony will be limited to a total of 40 mice per month per principal investigator.
• Sales of C57BL/6 strains will be limited to aged mice. Young control mice are available from Jackson Lab (the source of our stock) and commercial vendors. It is imperative that we maintain some mice in the colony to age, so it is necessary to require investigators to acquire the young controls elsewhere.
• The caloric restricted colony is compromised at both barriers so it will be at least 2004 before caloric restricted mice are again available.
• Exceptions to any of these restrictions require prior written approval from Dr. Nadon.