Improving Genetic Resources for the Rhesus Macaque Workshop—May
23, 2007
Workshop Summary
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) organized this workshop on improving genetic resources for the rhesus macaque. The workshop, which was held on the NIH campus, was the second in a series sponsored by NCRR. The first workshop (Genetic Tools for Optimizing the Use of Rhesus Macaques for Translational Research) took place on April 19-20, 2006. NCRR considers the topic of genetic tools for the rhesus to be particularly timely, given the extensive use of the species in research directly related to problems of human health, the successful development of first-generation tools, and the recent publication of the rhesus genome sequence.
The purpose of the current workshop was to define the need for and properties
of physical maps for the rhesus, with an emphasis on a single nucleotide polymorphism
(SNP) map. Twenty presentations covered the following topics:
- an overview of the biomedical uses of the rhesus;
- the rhesus genome sequence;
- the current status of SNP discovery in the rhesus; lessons learned from
other SNP mapping projects, including the human and other mammals;
- the current state-of-the-art of genotyping platforms and high throughput
sequencing for SNP discovery; and
- databases and outreach.
Based on these presentations, the workshop participants discussed the potential
utility of high-resolution physical maps for the rhesus and provided specific
recommendations regarding the properties of the rhesus SNP map and the best
methods for making the data available to the research community. A final report,
in preparation, will provide more detail regarding the presentations and the
specific recommendations from the participants.
Contact Information: Dr. John D. Harding (HardingJ@mail.nih.gov).