You may be interested in using PGI’s unique colony to find out. Review the information below to help you decide...

The Colony is a heterogeneous population established in 1965 as a cross between six inbred lines (C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, CBA/J, SWR/J, SM/J, and LG/J) and Falconer’s outbred J strain. Prior to implementation of the selection program for RL, the base population was maintained by random breeding for several generations to reduce linkage disequilibrium.

The Selection Scheme   One control line and two selected lines (with and without normalizing litter size to 8 progeny) were established in 1982, and have been continuously selected for RL since then. The control line is maintained with 50 breeding pairs, while the selected lines are maintained with 30 pairs, using a breeding scheme that avoids full-sib matings.

Colony Characteristics   At generation 29 for the selected lines and 84 for the control line, the selected animals are markedly superior to the control animals for both RL and number of lifetime pregnancies. Preliminary physiological studies have shown that the extended reproductive lifespan of the selected lines is accompanied by changes in underlying morphological and physiological characteristics in reproduction-associated parameters.

Some Possibilities

• Our mouse colony may be an ideal platform for testing interventions with the potential to extend RL, such as new drugs specifically developed to key target components of biological pathways affecting RL, or existing drugs for ‘off-label’ applications that enhance fecundity (like Viagra!)
• PGI’s mouse model can also be used to test drugs for possible detrimental effects on reproduction and gestation.