July 5, 2012

JAX Resources for Cleft and Craniofacial Research

July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month (NCCAPM). Each year in the United States, cleft and craniofacial conditions affect thousands of infants, children, teens, and adults. Some of these conditions are congenital, like cleft lip and palate. Others are due to oral, head, neck or skin diseases. We offer several resources that facilitate cleft and craniofacial research.

Cleft and craniofacial mouse models

Our Craniofacial Resource discovers, characterizes, and provides the scientific community with new mouse models of craniofacial syndromes and for studying facial, dental, eye, ear and skull development. We discover these models in several ways. Some arise as spontaneous mutants in our production colonies. Others begin as mutants produced in our ENU-mutagenesis programs. We study these incipient models, test them for heritability, characterize them and map the mutant genes. We also acquire craniofacial mutants through our Donate a Strain and Sponsored Strain Distribution programs. You can find the models that are currently available, those under development and other useful resources at the following websites:

Each year in the United States, about 4,400 infants are born with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate, and about 2,700 infants are born with a cleft palate without a cleft lip (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

JAX® Services for cleft and craniofacial research

Several of our services can facilitate your cleft and craniofacial research:

Questions? Call us at 1-800-422-6423 (US, Canada & Puerto Rico) or 1-207-288-5845 (from any location).