Which vendor produced the C57BL/6J mouse?

Which vendor produced the C57BL/6J mouse?

• A. Harlan
• B. Charles River
• C. Taconic Farms
• D. The Jackson Laboratory

Answer: (D)

Understanding substrain designations helps identify who produced a specific mouse line. The C57BL/6J designation marks the Jackson Laboratory as the origin and maintainer of this particular inbred line. The “J” suffix is a cue that this is the Jackson Laboratory version of C57BL/6, a widely used genetic background in research. While other vendors like Harlan, Charles River, and Taconic Farms may supply C57BL/6 mice, the specific C57BL/6J line comes from Jackson Laboratory, which is why that name is used to indicate the producer. This distinction matters for reproducibility, since different substrains (for example, 6J versus 6N) can have distinct genetic drift and phenotypic differences.

Understanding substrain designations helps identify who produced a specific mouse line. The C57BL/6J designation marks the Jackson Laboratory as the origin and maintainer of this particular inbred line. The “J” suffix is a cue that this is the Jackson Laboratory version of C57BL/6, a widely used genetic background in research. While other vendors like Harlan, Charles River, and Taconic Farms may supply C57BL/6 mice, the specific C57BL/6J line comes from Jackson Laboratory, which is why that name is used to indicate the producer. This distinction matters for reproducibility, since different substrains (for example, 6J versus 6N) can have distinct genetic drift and phenotypic differences.