Rome, 11/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, in Rome, the European Commission announced the opening of negotiations with the EMMA (European Mutant Mouse Archive) consortium on the granting of EUR 4.5 million with a view to strengthening the network and developing research on mice, as the mouse is a suitable model for human genomics. Research carried out so far on genetically modified mouse strains will help to better understand the development of human disorders (such as cancers) and how they may be treated and cured. The project negotiated with EMMA must mainly meet the needs of infrastructures for the networking of research centres taking part in the consortium. The amount should be broken down between EMMAnet (EUR 565,000) and EMMAworks (4 million devoted to the creation of 650 new mutant lines as well as to a research programme on the interaction between the genetic expression and environmental conditions).
EUROPE recalls that the EMMA network has developed around the Monterotondo centre, near Rome, which is able to keep 40,000 mouse specimens. The consortium has seven partners: - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto di Biologia Cellulare (Italy); - GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit GmbH, Institut für Experimentelle Genetik (Germany); - Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (Portugal); - Clinical Research Centerkarolinska Institutet (Sweden); - Medical Research Council Mammalian Genetics Unit (United Kingdom); - CNRS - Centre de développement des techniques avancées (France); - EMBL - The European Bioinformatics Institute (United Kingdom).