About ICS

The Institut Clinique de la Souris - ICS (Mouse Clinical Institute - MCI) is a research infrastructure of excellence for translational research and functional genomics. Founded in 2002 by Pierre Chambon, operated by Inserm, CNRS and the University of Strasbourg and supervised by GIE-CERBM (GIE-Centre Européen de Recherche en Biologie et en Médecine), it provides a comprehensive set of specialised services to academic and industrial users and is a major player in the European post-genomics area programs. The close interaction with the IGBMC (L’Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire) strongly contributes to the development and design of new techniques and functional assays.

The ICS we are now focused on understanding the role of genetics in health and disease. We concentrate on global studies of experimental variation of genome sequence in the mouse model. It combines the capacity of generating genetically engineered mouse model on a large scale with a high-throughput and comprehensive phenotypic analysis of the animals.

The Institute's phenotyping platforms are adapted for the study of mutant mice and genetic reference populations but can also be used for preclinical studies including the validation of therapeutic targets as well as pharmacological and toxicological studies in the mouse. How is Institute research funded? The ICS was established using funds provided by Inserm, CNRS, University of Strasbourg. Research projects often receive research grants from funding agencies. We contribute to several major programmes that have been awarded.

The three highly interactive departments Genetic Engineering and Model Validation, Phenotyping and Mouse Supporting Services generate approximately 200 genetically modified mice per year. Phenotypic analysis cover hematology, immunology, inflammation, blood chemistry, metabolism, cardiovascular respiratory, sensory organs, cognition, learning, behavior, reproduction, morphology, ...

The services of the ICS will ultimately help the scientific community to use the mouse to develop a complete functional annotation of the human genome and to employ this to better understand human diseases and their underlying physiological and pathological basis.

With the 2012 project PHENOMIN (part of the call for projects called National Infrastructures in Biology and Health), the goal of the ICS was to give birth to a national infrastructure specialized in development, analysis and conservation of mice models. This project federates teams of excellence in mouse genetics (Strasbourg, Orléans, Marseille and Villejuif).

Our missions

To provide a service platform combining the capacity of generating, on a large scale basis, mutations in the mouse genome with high-throughput and comprehensive phenotypic analysis of the model.
To facilitate the access to the engineering, the analysis and the distribution of mouse models for the scientific community.
To have relevant in-house research and development programs to support the activities of ICS in the domains of mutagenesis, transgenesis, phenotyping, bioinformatics and data analysis.
To promote the training both internally and for the users to guarantee the most efficient procedure being committed to comply with the Ethics and animal welfare.
To be a reference center for functional genomics and preclinical research.

Politique Management ICS 2021 (762.0 KB)