The Cytogenetics Core provides specialized cytogenetics-related services to investigators at Mayo Clinic and other institutions. Scientific applications of Cytogenetics Core services include:
- Characterizing the clonality of cell lines and tumors
- Ruling out interspecies cell culture contamination
- Determining the presence or absence of interspecies cells in xenograft or chimeric animal models
- Monitoring established cell lines to rule out contamination or other changes during cell culture
- Producing region-specific homebrew fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes that are used to enumerate copy numbers of cancer-related genes
- Determining the patterns of gene-related gains and losses
- Mapping the location of DNA sequences, genes or transgene insertions through sequential use of homebrew probes and several hybridization techniques, such as FISH and spectral karyotyping
The core's services can aid researchers in pinpointing genetic regions that are important for the development of specific diseases and malignancies. With the recognition that cancer is a genetic disease, many cancer researchers, including those in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, require access to Cytogenetics Core services.
The Cytogenetics Core is located in the Stabile Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. It is part of the Medical Genome Facility, formerly known as the Advanced Genomics Technology Center, within the Center for Individualized Medicine.
The Medical Genome Facility is composed of four genomics-oriented cores: Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing Core, Cytogenetics Core, Genotyping Core, and Pathology Research Core (formerly known as the Tissue and Cell Molecular Analysis Core). These cores work together to provide Mayo Clinic investigators with professional, efficient, low-cost access to the latest genomics technologies.