PROJECT SUMMARY: RESOURCE SECTION The role of the Resource Section will be to provide necessary animal infrastructure by maintaining live colonies of relevant rat and mice strains/stocks to supply animals and/or materials from these animals to the Genome Editing and Biological Effects Testing Section of the MU Rodent Testing Center for Somatic Cell Genome Editing and to any other investigators who want to take advantage of the Testing Center’s activities and services. Our group has longstanding expertise in all aspects of rodent importation, animal model characterization, breeding and world-wide distribution of live animals and animal-related materials and importantly, we are equally familiar with both mice and rats. We are experts at the management of rodent disease models regardless of their disease phenotype. We have access to a state-of-the-art vivarium, an established comprehensive animal colony management system and tested protocols for all aspects of model acquisition, animal care, model characterization and live animal/animal material distribution. In addition to oversight of animal breeding/production colonies and supplying animals/embryos/materials for in vivo testing, the Resource Section will be responsible for ensuring that all rodent strains/stocks and associated information are readily available to users, strains/stocks are cryoarchived if needed and deposited to the NIH-funded national rodent repositories as appropriate. The latter will be greatly facilitated by the fact that both the MU Mouse Resource and Research Center (MMRRC) and Rat Resource and Research Center (RRRC) are on-site at the University of Missouri and the members of our group are affiliated with both these repositories. Because of our extensive experience, outstanding facilities, and equal familiarity with all aspects of working with both mice and rats, we are uniquely suited to support the rodent in vivo testing needs not only of the Genome Editing and Biological Effects Testing Section of the MU Rodent Testing Center for Somatic Cell Genome Editing but for any other investigators who want to take advantage of the Testing Center’s activities and services on a fee-for-service basis. 1