How much will my experiment cost?

The answer to this question depends on the number of mice, experimental groups, length, and extent of experimental manipulations over the course of your experiment.  Contact us, and we're happy to provide an estimate based on our current approved recharge rates.

How many isolators do I need?

Because all of the animals within a given isolator are protected by one set of HEPA filters, they will all share the same colonization status.  Therefore, you will need an isolator for each group you would like to have a unique microbiome.  Due to space constraints, the absolute maximum number of mice we can house in an individual isolator is 20, but a more managable number is 16 or under.

What is the wait time to start an experiment?

This depends on the number of isolators needed, as well as the number, sex, and strain of mice desired.  Gnotobiotic experiments are conducted within positive pressure vinyl isolators, so we are limited in the number of experimental groups we can have running concurrently. 

As we breed mice "to order", you can expect that it may take 2-3 months to produce the animals you need for your experiment.  However, we make every effort to use all of the mice we breed for experimental purposes, so any extra mice left from previous breedings will be offered up ASAP to other core users as they become available.  Being as flexible as possible with age and sex of the mice you can use is especially helpful to our staff and may yield shorter wait times.

How do I acknowledge the Core?

All work performed in the Gnotobiotics Core Facility should be acknowledged in presentations, posters, and publications.  

Acknowledgement is an important benchmark by which we can measure the impact of our core over time, and will be essential for future funding.  Please acknowledge us as the "UCSF Gnotobiotics Core Facility" when appropriate.  If a member of our staff has made significant intellectual contributions toward the planning or execution of your experiments, please consider co-authorship.  We would be glad to assist with the methods section of your manuscript to ensure it accurately reflects the methods used in our facility.

What is the NORC?

UCSF's Nutrition and Obesity Research Center supports research programs focused on nutrition, obesity, or metabolism.  Among other things, this includes support for Core facilities to enable NORC member to use affiliated cores (including the Gnotobiotics Core) at a reduced cost.

Need post-experimental help?

We urge you to contact other core facilies on campus for assistance with sequencing, flow cytometry, histology, and any other post-mouse experimental needs.  The microbiome club may also be a useful place to talk to microbial data-analysis experts from a variety of fields.