It is well established that the genetic background of an animal can have a substantial effect on the outcome of research procedures. Most captive populations of nonhuman primates are generally assumed to have considerable genotypic and phenotypic variability. Because this is recognized as potentially problematic for research outcomes, efforts are under way to develop pedigrees that would be useful to identify kinship relationship between research animals. The Genetics Core facility has the primary goal of performing genetic testing on young animals in the TNPRC breeding colony to determine parental relationships and to keep precise records of paternal and maternal pedigrees of all animals born into the colony. Genetic testing currently relies on analyses of well established Single Nuclear Polymorphisms (SNP) panels. Establishment of parentage of each newborn infant enables the Core to determine precise kinship relationships between any two animals within the colony. Pedigree information is made available to investigators and should prove useful in cases where genetic relationships among animals are important to research outcomes. Such information is also useful for the genetic management of the TNPRC breeding colony, whose primary goal is to maintain genetic diversity. The Core is also responsible for the establishment of a genome banking system is using dry blood samples on archival paper, extracted DNA samples, and cryopreservation of primary cell lines for each animal. Cell lines are generated from fibroblasts obtained from skin biopsies taken during regular animal health assessments.
