Charles River to Offer CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing

On Dec. 1, 2016 Charles River Laboratories (CRL) announced that the company will be begin offering CRIPSR/Cas9 genome engineering technology. The company entered a license agreement with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and will now be offering custom in vivo and in vitro genome editing. 

“Utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 platform, Charles River clients can work with a single provider for both the in vivo and in vitro phases of their research,” said Iva Morse, corporate vice-president, chief scientific officer, Global Research Models and Services, in a press announcement. “Working with us, clients can generate custom cell lines for early, exploratory discovery research, as well as generate in vivo pharmacology models, produce those models, and then use our Discovery Services offering to place those models in in vivo studies.”

CRL has developed partnerships with three groups globally for in vivo model creation services. In North America, the company is partnering with Mirimus, a company specializing in the creation of customized genetically engineered mouse models. In Japan, Charles River is partnering with the Laboratory Animal Resource Center, University of Tsukuba, one of the country’s largest production institutes for genetically modified mice. In Europe, the company is aligned with Phenomin ICS, formerly the Institut Clinique de la Souris, a leader in mouse and rat creation and phenotyping and a player in different strategic phenogenomics efforts, such as the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium.