Genotyping Skills

Issued by University of New England

Earners learn basic animal husbandry and genotyping skills, which make them a valuable addition to any laboratory or facility using transgenic rodents in research. Mastery of relevant skills include proper handling and care of rodents, breeder establishment, animal identification, tissue collection, DNA extraction, PCR performance, gel electrophoresis, and the analysis of results they have compiled into a database from creating spreadsheets to labeling gel images.

Type Experience
Level Intermediate
Time Months

Skills

Earning Criteria

Students will be taught and required to demonstrate proper rodent behavior techniques. This will include basic restraint, sex identification, ear notching, and tissue collection by tail biopsy.
Earners will be taught, then required to demonstrate how to extract DNA from the collected samples and perform PCR. This will enable the student to identify the specific genes in question for each strain of mouse from which they collected tissue. They will also learn various breeding schemes and how to plan a transgenic colony. Throughout the process, students will have the opportunity to run protocols of increasing complexity, as well as learn basic PCR troubleshooting techniques.
All results, notations, and lessons will be recorded in a laboratory notebook. The notebook will provide proof of mastery, as will a student’s ability to conduct the process from beginning (tissue collection) to end (PCR analysis) on their own.
Pre-requisites: Student must complete CITI rodent laboratory training as well as UNE Brightspace laboratory safety training.
If you have questions, please email: behaviorcore@une.edu