November 2011 – LEGACY ISTT blog

2011 Course on “Genetics of Laboratory Rodents”, Inst. Pasteur-Montevideo, December 5-14

: 2011 Course on “Genetics of Laboratory Rodents”, Inst. Pasteur-Montevideo, December 5-14

Martina Crispo, Head of the Transgenic and Experimental Animal Unit of the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay and ISTT Member, along with Jean-Jacques Panthier (Inst. Pasteur, Paris) organize the 2011 Course on “Genetics of Laboratory Rodents“, that will be held at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 5-14. This course is co-sponsored by the International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT). As in the first edition, the aim of this course is to offer a training opportunity to South American research scientists and veterinarians in charge of laboratory animal facilities, in the most prominent areas of mammalian genetics (mostly mouse). This course offers an opportunity to receive an intensive training and get in touch with scientist of the region working in the same fields of interest. The final program includes the following topics:

Tools for genetic analysis

Laboratory animal husbandry

Basic of mouse reproduction physiology

Population genetics, the breeding systems and the different categories of mouse strains

Origin and phylogeny of the rodent laboratory strains

Wild derived inbred strains

Spontaneous and induced mutations – phenotype driven and genotype driven mutagenesis

Genetic mapping; physical mapping; positional cloning; candidate gene identification

Statistical genetics and complex trait analysis

Transgenesis under its various forms, gene expression analysis, strategies in induced mutagenesis (knockout, knock in, conditional knockout, etc.)

Bioinformatics in genetics and genomics, database mining

Design of experiments and selection of the best animal models

The list of invited speakers includes:

Jean Jacques Panthier (Institut Pasteur de Paris, France)
Xavier Montagutelli (Institut Pasteur de Paris, France)
Jean Louis Guénet (Institut Pasteur de Paris, France)
Jean Jaubert (Institut Pasteur de Paris, France)
Michel Cohen Tannoudji (Institut Pasteur de Paris, France)
Ignacio Anegón (Institut de Transplantation-Urologie-Néphrologie,France)
Marcelo Rubinstein (Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UBA, Argentina)
Andreia Salgado (CEMIB, UNICAMP, Brazil)
Fernando Benavides (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas, USA)
Mariela Bollati (Institut Pasteur de Montevideo)
Martina Crispo (Institut Pasteur de Montevideo)

Here you can download a Poster for the 2011 Course. There are 2 slots reserved for ISTT Members. Additional information can be requested to: curso-genetica-raton@pasteur.edu.uy

The Basel Declaration

In November 2010, on the occasion of the first Basel conference “Research at a Crossroads“, more than 80 life science researchers from Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, France and Great Britain addressed the problems of animal research and adopted the “Basel Declaration“. The Declaration marks an unprecedented effort of the scientific community towards more trust, transparency and communication on animal research. The signatories, researchers in the life sciences sector, are committed to the 3R principle (Replace, Reduce, Refine), i.e., that animal testing in their area of expertise be planned and carried out with extreme care. In addition, they will contribute to providing society with open and transparent information about animal experiments. In return, the undersigned scientists expect society to recognize that animal experiments are essential for medical progress both now and in future.

Signatures in support of this Basel Declaration are being collected from its dedicated web site, from individual researchers and also from institutes, colleges, organizations and administrations. Dr. Karin Blumer, in her excellent talk on Animal Ethics, delivered at the recent TT2011 meeting held in Florida, already commented on this important initiative. She is involved in the Organizing Committee of the Meetings associated with this Basel Declaration. Other significant ISTT members, such as Dr. Johannes Wilbertz, first ISTT Vice-President and current ISTT Honorary Member, is serving as an Ambassador for the Basel Declaration.

The ISTT wants you!

The International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT) wants you!. If you are a member of the ISTT, your ideas, suggestions, proposals for helping us running the Society are most welcome. At the ISTT Council, one of our fundamental aims is our committment to always increase the benefits of our ISTT membership, as much as reasonably possible, according to the ISTT funds. ISTT support can be used to co-sponsor meetings, workshops, courses, seminars and any other event related to the generation and the analysis of genetically-modified animals. ISTT support can also be used for registration and travel awards for ISTT Members to attend ISTT meetings, to sponsor travel/training projects, small Grant support for Laboratory/Unit R&D projects, for a sliding scale for registration when more than one member of the same lab/unit attend a sponsored meeting, etc… The ISTT news your ideas to increase the support to ISTT members. An ISTT Membership Committe, formed by Jan Parker-Thornburg, Elizabeth Williams and Wojtek Auerbach, has been constituted for this purpose. They will be more than happy to receive your suggestions, your ideas, your proposals, your comments, as ISTT Members, anything that you feel we could consider to increase the benefits of our ISTT Membership. Thanks for your contribution!.

Register now as ISTT member and get immediate membership for 2011 and 2012 for a single annual fee!

At the most recent 10th Transgenic Technology (TT2011) meeting we launched a promotion for new ISTT members that will remain valid until the end of the year. All new members registering from now until the end of 2011 will be granted immediate ISTT membership and their paid annual fee will be used for 2012, therefore qualifying for two additional free months in 2011 of ISTT membership. Furthermore, the ISTT General Assembly approved a reduction of the Technician/Student ISTT annual membership fees, from 35 to 25 Euros. ISTT Ordinary and Corporate member’s annual fees will remain the same: 70 Euros per year. Register now and immediately enjoy all benefits associated with ISTT membership, including privileged access to the full on-line contents of Transgenic Research, the scientific journal published by Springer and associated to the ISTT, and access to talks from invited speakers and posters from presenters from the previous TT2011 meeting.