Scientists Helping Scientists
World-Renowned Technical Support from The Jackson Laboratory

JAX® NOTES Issue 508, Winter 2008

Technical Support at The Jackson Laboratory began in the late 1970s when the Laboratory was distributing only 10 mutant mouse strains. In those early years, a single person supervised the breeding of these strains and responded to technical inquiries by old-fashioned snail-mail. Several days a week, a letter or two arrived, pen was put to paper, a 15 cent stamp was licked, and a response was sent to the inquiring scientist. Over the next 3-4 decades, as the number of mutant strains grew dramatically and genetic engineering technologies became more complex, the demand for more extensive technical support increased. Today, the Technical Information Services (TIS) team at The Jackson Laboratory consists of 8 highly trained scientists and an expert information specialist (a combined 147 years of research experience) working full-time to support the research community's use of more than 3,500 strains and mouse-related services. The TIS team responds to more than 15,000 phone calls, e-mails, and online inquiries a year from thousands of scientists worldwide in need of mouse models, related services, and research solutions.

"I was amazed at the speed and depth of response!!! Well done."

-- Customer

With research experience involving many organisms (including yeast, plants, chickens, and mice) and human clinical work, the TIS team has top-quality biological expertise. The scientific cast is comprised of the following characters: the "absolute historian", with unsurpassed knowledge of mouse breeding, husbandry, and the utility of hundreds of mouse strains; the "diehard analytic thinker", with cross-field training and a global perspective on biomedical research; the "creative, ambitious friend", who will walk you through any difficulty, calm your nerves, and stick with you until your problem is solved; the "steel-trap confidant", who remembers everything (that has ever passed through his neuronal circuits) and conveys that information efficiently and effectively; the "bubbly, budding yeast geneticist", harboring the unique single-cell perspective and knowledge of mammalian systems; the "consummate librarian", a former botanist turned mouse expert, who will research to the depths of the rabbit (or mouse) hole to find an answer; the "quiet, dependable scholar", with interdisciplinary training and a knack for squeezing 25 hours out of every day; the "eagle eye assistant", without whom TIS scientists would be lost; and the "fearless, encouraging leader", who strives for perfection and believes the sky is the limit on what her team can achieve. These are your JAX® Technical Support scientists.

TIS scientists provide valuable guidance to all research levels, including Nobel laureates, grade school children (the Nobel scientists of tomorrow), university investigators, and multi-million dollar virtual biotech companies. At times, their assistance takes the form of concise answers or alternatives; at other times, it consists of scientists teaching scientists. In fact, education is one of the group's primary missions. Whether sharing their knowledge and experience through phone and e-mail conversations, developing scientific literature, organizing comprehensive short courses, or exchanging information one-on-one, TIS scientists provide you with the tools you need to navigate through a sometimes overwhelming sea of information. Recently, two TIS scientists took their expertise on the road, providing universities and research institutes with training on how to choose, maintain, and use mouse models of disease in their research. Another TIS scientist, the pioneer of the new "Tech Support To Go" initiative, visited 3 academic institutions in the San Francisco Bay area to offer technical assistance about JAX® Mice, genetics, cell biology, mouse breeding, husbandry, and laboratory techniques.

"SO helpful!!! You saved me a ton of time!"

 --Customer

TIS scientists put themselves in your shoes; after all, they have worn similar shoes for years. They are a confidential sounding board for discussing your project goals and helping you think "outside the box" to uncover research alternatives and solutions. Whether time, economy, or precision is your driving force, TIS scientists work with you until your goal is achieved.

In a classic example of TIS support, a principal investigator contacted TIS with a problem: her recent publication submission, critical for her upcoming grant application, was hanging in limbo. The manuscript reviewers wanted evidence that the cell lines used in her in vitro experiments were not derived from a specific mouse strain - a circumstance that would have made her data irrelevant. Having no evidence to support or refute the reviewers, and no time to develop an assay of her own, the anxious researcher called TIS. She was offered an immediate solution: JAX® Genome Scanning Service could compare each of her cell lines to numerous strains and determine their origins. The TIS team handles similar scenarios every day.

"He is the best tech support person I have ever met. He is well educated. You can count on his service. It is the reason I want to purchase mice from Jackson."

-- Customer

No scientific inquiry is too big or too small for TIS scientists. Whether you want to discuss a new laboratory technique, the basics of mouse colony management, a service available to support your research, or an unconventional way to achieve your research goals, TIS can help you hit the ground running. With the ever-growing complexity of mouse models of human disease and the shear magnitude of resources increasing, performing research using mouse models is more challenging than ever. Whatever your scientific area of interest or level of expertise, TIS scientists are available to help you.

"I love my job. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I am helping other research scientists everyday!"

--TIS scientist

"It's that giant TIS brain that makes the team so special. The group literally functions as a huge collective of many intense years of unique and extensive research experiences, and when all that knowledge comes together to solve a problem, it is an amazing thing to be a part of. The inherent desire of the team members to help people is also very unique."

--TIS team leader

If you have any questions or would like to discuss JAX® Services, contact TIS at 1-800-422-6423, 1-207-288-5845, 1-207-288-6629 (FAX), micetech@jax.org, or visit our Web site. Alternatively, TIS scientists work closely with JAX® Regional Representatives, so you may prefer to contact the one in your area.