EMMA - Procedures
Costs
Transport of submitted mice to EMMA will be the responsibility of the depositor. No charge will be levied for archiving services (quarantine, re-derivation, cryopreservation, SPF breeding, etc). For the shipment of live mice or frozen samples to requesting researchers EMMA will charge €200 per strain. In addition, customers have to cover the actual costs for shipping the material from the EMMA facilty where the requested strain is archived to their institution.
Intellectual Property Rights
The submission and distribution of mouse mutant strains to and from the EMMA archive is subject to legally binding conditions. The documents stating the conditions for submission (pdf-file, 97kb) and distribution (pdf-file, 88 kb) of EMMA strains are available via the displayed links. EMMA-maintained lines are supplied to qualified researchers as a service to the scientific community at large, solely for research purposes and not for commercial use. The legally binding EMMA conditions further state that the recipient individual, laboratory or institution may not transfer or sell these mice or their progeny to any third party outside the recipient institution. Any already existing Material Transfer Agreements will remain in full force and effect.
Protected Breeding
The mouse strains imported into the EMMA facilities are subject to quarantine in cage isolators. Live colonies are obtained upon cleansing by embryo derivation and maintained in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) conditions. In addition, as a special service, EMMA provides the re-derivation of selected mouse strains into the germ-free status.
Ethical and safety aspects
The EMMA repository, by definition, involves the handling of genetically manipulated organisms. Although the repository will store and distribute these mice it will not create them. All animal work within the repository will be conducted in strict accord with the established rules and procedures of the host nation. Each laboratory that contributes animals to the repository, or receives them from it, must ensure that the European Directive 86/609/EEC and all relevant national and European rules and regulations, are complied with. Accordingly, the repository will seek appropriate assurances from all those who contribute animals to it, or receive animals from it, but EMMA cannot be held responsible for the conduct of national laboratories over which it has no control. The regulation 93/88/EEC of 12 October 1993, amending Directive 90/679/EEC on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to biological agents at work will be enforced. Agreement by the local Ethical Committee, when applicable, has been obtained for these aspects, and the declaration of Helsinki will be enforced by the scientists in charge.