Backcrossing and Speed Congenics

Traditional Backcrossing

Taconic offers multiple services to transfer a desired genetic mutation from one genetic background to another genetic background. Traditional backcrossing is achieved by 10 successive backcrosses, which results in a new mouse model that is 99.9% identical to the recipient inbred strain.

Speed Congenics or Accelerated Backcrossing

Traditional backcrossing is based on the principle of transferring a mutation from one strain to another; however, it is time-dependent on natural mating and could take up to three years. Speed congenics results in a faster enrichment of the recipient genetic background by backcrossing aided by genotyping and SNP testing.

As shown below, when comparing traditional backcrossing to speed congenics, the desired strain is achieved in less than half the time through the speed congenics process vs. traditional backcrossing.