There are a number of benefits to you, the donor, of having the APF preserve and distribute your strain:
The Donating Investigator must complete the web-based application form and the accompanying genotyping form. Once the strain is accepted the donating investigator must submit APF's Donor Material Transfer Agreement signed by the donating investigator and an authorized official of their institution (e.g., a Technology Transfer Coordinator), and provide a recent Health Status Report for the strain's colony.
No. The APF is a repository and distributor for unique genetically modified murine strains developed primarily by researchers. The APF considers candidate strains submitted by researchers for preservation and distribution. Those determined to have sufficient or potential scientific value are accepted for importation, maintenance and distribution by the system.
The APF's Science Advisory and Access Committee (SAAC) makes the decision based on information in the application and any provided papers.
Yes. The APF provides the facilities to for investigators to conduct screening of ENU-induced mutagenesis programs. Mutants identified from these screens are deposited into the Phenome Bank.
Varies for each strain. Factors affecting the total time include:
Yes. To encourage investigators to submit their valuable strains sooner, the APF offers a Delayed Release option. As the Donating Investigator, you may request Delayed Release by briefly explaining your need on your submission application. This allows the APF to make your strain available to other researchers sooner after you are able to publish your research about the new strain. If your submission is accepted, the APF can delay release of your strain until your publication date for up to a maximum of 2 years. You may request earlier release and you must inform the APF of the date of publication of your research on or before your publication date. Pursuant to policy, the APF will make your strain available as soon as feasible after the delay period. (For more information, see Delayed Release page.)
The abbreviation stands for Material Transfer Agreement. It is an agreement between a provider and a recipient for transfer of materials. The APF uses MTAs as the formal instrument for transferring mouse strains from Donors to the APF and from the APF to Recipients. The MTA states the terms and use limitations imposed by the provider on the recipient. (See APF MTAs for additional information.)
No. Custom written MTAs and alterations to the APF MTAs would create much confusion and additional administrative burdens on the APF and other parties in the distribution process, thus impeding the acquisition and distribution of strains for the research community. These MTAs were developed after consultation with other mouse respoitories. We believe the current MTAs are effective agreements for sharing of these research resources for internal, non-commercial research purposes, which achieve the appropriate balance for both the donor and the recipient. (See APF MTAs for additional information.)
The APF's purpose is to provide these strains to bona fide biomedical researchers. Therefore, most recipients will be associated with a recognized biomedical or genetics research institution. All recipients are required to conform their research to all applicable statues and regulations, including all applicable federal statutes and Public Health Service policies relating to the use and care of laboratory animals. The donating investigator or their institution may have restricted distribution of their strain to non-profit institutions. The APF's Strain Catalog and Strain Detail Sheets indicate this restriction where applicable.
After searching the Australian Phenome Bank, the Requesting Investigator should start the process with the Request Mutant Strain Form and sign a Material Transfer Agreement provided by the APF that describes the conditions associated with the use of mutants and samples and confirms the rights of the Depositing Investigator. It is the responsibility of the Requesting Investigator to obtain appropriate licenses for any relevant patents if necessary. Requests will be fulfilled by dispatching frozen mutants and samples using cryo-material shipping containers or live animals, according to the user's requirements. Frozen samples will be shipped by an overnight carrier and the cryo-shipping container should be returned as soon as possible to the APF for there is always a demand.
Please refer to the APF pricing list.
The APF does not focus on high-demand strains with commercial potential to make a profit, but instead, focuses on strains with low-demand but potential value to biomedical research. The APF invests substantial time and resources to import, cryopreserve and establish a strain colony; these procedures are expensive. The volume of mice distributed is small. In general, the distribution fee for a mouse is less than the fee would have to be to recover the investment. Thus, the APF is providing a subsidized service to the research community for internal non-commercial research purposes with fees to address the APF's costs. Without NHMRC funding, most of these strains would not be preserved and could not be distributed to biomedical researchers.
The cryo-recovery fee offsets the costs of resuscitating mice from a cryo-archive and replenishing the depleted material. The requesting investigator will receive the litter recovered.
That depends on the continued availability of a live breeding colony. Since the recovered litter is transferred to the requesting investigator, normally there would not be additional animals available -- unless the facility is breeding more animals to replenish the cryo archive. The APF's Phenome Bank Curator can assist you in determining the status of a live colony following cryo-recovery.
The APF is not a commercial breeding facility and the strains in the repository are not in high enough demand to warrant a large production colony. To assure availability to other interested researchers, the APF limits requests to two pair of breeders, leaving the recipient to breed up a colony sufficient for their research needs.
The APF's Phenome Bank Curator and Management team will determine whether the APF can fulfill your request for additional animals.
No, but at its discretion, the APF facility may negotiate with you or your institution to establish a contractual custom breeding colony for a fee. The arrangements are negotiated directly with the supplying APF facility; such special breeding colonies must not impede the availability of the strain to other researchers.
Yes, if the distributing APF has cryopreserved stocks of this strain. You must provide evidence that your laboratory or institution is capable of handling cryo-material.
As a member of Federation of International Mouse Resources (FIMRe), the APF is able to assist you with obtaining live mice at your institution. FIMRe members can exchange cryopreserved mouse materials for reanimation by another repository and subsequent delivery of live animals.
Generally, cryopreserved materials are easier to export and import than live animals and the member repositories are familiar with the regulations and procedures affecting transfers between repositories, saving you and your institution this effort. Member FIMRe repositories will ship the requested cryopreserved material to the APF. The APF will reanimate the material and ship the recovered mice to your institution. Additionally, you may contract with the APF for any additional services you may require including genotyping or additional breeding for specific quantities or genotypes of animals. The APF will charge a fee to recover costs.
If you or your institution is able to reanimate live mice from cryopreserved materials, you may request distribution as cryopreserved material. If you are not able to perform the reanimation, you may arrange with a FIMRe member repository to perform the reanimation for you and with the APF to have cryopreserved materials shipped to the member repository of your choice for reanimation. The APF will also ship live animals once rederived.
Distributions utilizing this reanimation service are governed by all regulations, licenses, terms of use, policies, etc. applicable to the mouse line at the originating repository. Recipients will obtain any licenses, MTA's, etc. required by the originating repository; the reanimating repository does not place additional restrictions or conditions on use of the mice.