Services and Pricing

Cryopreservation of Mouse Embryos

Embryo cryopreservation provides a safe path for perserving the quality and protection of the transgenic line for any potential projected future experiments. This service is initiated after consultation with a member of our staff. The investigator is responsible for providing a complete description of the mouse line to be cryopreserved (strain, genotype, etc.) Upon completing the appropriate form, female mice are superovulated and mated with a minimum of 10 male stud mice between the ages of 2 to 6 months that are provided by the investigator. From these matings a minimum of 300 eight-cell embryos are harvested and cryopreserved.

A portion of the frozen embryos are thawed and transferred to a recipient female animal to test the viability after the freezing of each line. These pups can be returned to the investigator for additional screening of the transgene if desired.

Frozen embryos are stored in four liquid nitrogen storage tanks. These tanks are monitored weekly by personnel of the resource, and cannot be accessed by other individuals.

The pricing for this service includes both a service charge plus the costs of all mouse purchases. This service is available for $3,450 per line. Also, there will be a $2.65 per vial or straw cryopreservation storage fee. This is cost-effective since Charles River, for example, charges at least $5,000 per line perserved. Furthermore, a reduction in the number of mice requiring housing and, therefore housing costs, could be stream lined through embryo cryopreservation.

To date, the cryopreservation equipment has been used to cryopreserve over 31,200 embryos from 84 different lines for 19 different investigators. Currently, three core personnel are capable of performing this service.

In an effort to assist investigators in curbing mouse census growth, the DAC, together with the Transgenic/ES Cell Shared Resource, are offering cryopreservation services at a greatly reduced cost to Vanderbilt Investigators. This service will be performed on a "first come-first served" basis and investigators must meet specific conditions in order for your germline altered mouse line to be cryopreserved. For Vanderbilt investigators utilizing this service as part of the Mouse Census Reduction project, Investigators will be charged ONLY for the cost of the female mice for the entire experiment. The price for the female mice generally ranges between ~$750 and $1,200, depending upon the number of days needed to freeze back the appropriate number of embryos and the background strain being frozen. This charge will be invoiced once the cryopreservation experiment is completed. The investigator will also be responsible for charges related to the housing of the male mice during the experiment and for the long term storage of all cryopreserved vials. Please contact a member of our staff if you have questions concerning your eligibility for the Mouse Census Reduction Project.