This has been an exciting month for our mice! In September, a new litter who we have been eagerly anticipating was born in the Hayflick lab.

As you may recall from one of the past NBIA Disorders Association newsletters, the Hayflick lab is developing a new mouse model for NBIA. This mouse has been genetically engineered to have a mutation in Pank2, the gene that causes PKAN, and mimics mutations seen in people with the disease.

Getting the mice to the point where they can be used for experiments has been a time-consuming process, but the good news is that we’re finally almost done! The last pairs of breeding mice were set up, and in the past week or so, they gave birth to experiment-ready mice. This is a very big step for our lab, not only for our personal efforts, but hopefully for developing new knowledge about NBIA in general.

Do you want to learn more about the PKAN knock-in mice? Do you have any burning questions about the process so far or what’s coming up in the future? You can now directly ask our resident mouse expert, Jeff! He has graciously agreed to answer questions submitted to our Facebook, Twitter or by email to info@NBIAcure.org. Send in your mouse questions!

In about 1-2 weeks, we will make another post with Jeff’s answers for everyone to read.