Centre for In Vivo Modelling Service Core

At the Centre for In Vivo Modelling (CIVM), we combine advanced animal genetics and cutting-edge technologies to drive cancer research. Our multidisciplinary team specialises in the generation and maintenance of genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), humanised mouse strains, and patient-derived models (xenografts and organoids), using innovations such as CRISPR gene editing, embryo manipulation, and in vivo genetic screening. We develop and cryopreserve new cancer models that closely replicate human disease, supporting translational studies that inform effective therapies. Our approach integrates rigorous scientific standards, ethical oversight, and collaborative expertise, aiming to accelerate progress in understanding cancer biology and developing better treatments for patients.

Our Centre is dedicated to driving innovation and excellence in cancer research through advanced in vivo modelling. We work in close collaboration with the ICR researchers and clinicians at The Royal Marsden to generate genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) and patient-derived models, such as patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) and patient-derived organoids (PDOs) to interrogate cancer biology in its own ecosystem. By leveraging these sophisticated in vivo systems, the Centre aims to:

  • Develop innovative cancer models in collaboration with ICR researchers to advance cancer research and drug discovery.
  • Work in partnership with The Royal Marsden Hospital to obtain patient samples and generate new patient-derived cancer models for translational studies.
  • Foster close interdisciplinary collaboration with drug discovery teams to leverage these in vivo models in the creation and testing of next-generation anti-cancer therapies.
  • Continuously improve the sophistication and relevance of our cancer models, ensuring they more faithfully recapitulate the complexity of human disease and enhance the translational impact of our research.

 

Our services

Advantages of cryopreserving your strains:

  • Allows you to save space, by getting the mice you need, when you need;
  • Reduces your animal costs;
  • Reduces animal use;
  • Reduces risk from disasters (e.g. disease outbreaks, breeding cessation, equipment failures, genetic contamination, natural disasters, etc…).

 What can be cryopreserved?

  • Mouse Sperm
  • Mouse Embryos
  • Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Mouse Oocytes

 Sperm Cryopreservation:

Description: Sperm is retrieved from the epididymal tissues of 3 male mice and is cryopreserved in 20 to 30 straws that are stored in liquid-phase, liquid nitrogen across two tanks in two separate locations (SRD and CCDD), to ensure sample safety and mitigate risks associated to unexpected or uncontrollable events.

Material needed: 3 males, reproductively active, 12-25 weeks old

Timeline: 2-6 weeks (dependant on QC method of choice)

Considerations: this method of cryopreservation is rapid and cheap; however, it only preserves half of the genome. This method is only recommended for single mutations on a common inbred background.

Quality Control: we provide different levels of Quality Control (QC) for different price ranges.

  1. Test thaw QC: we will thaw 1 straw the day after cryopreservation and visually assess motility and viability of the recovered sperm
  2. IVF and culture to blastocyst QC: we highly recommend this QC step. In addition to test thaw, we will also perform IVF and culture embryos up to blastocyst stage. We will provide the investigator with a fertility rate (%) for the recovered sperm. We will charge an extra cost to cover the IVF procedure.
  3. IVF and embryo transfer QC: In addition to test thaw, we will perform IVF and transfer 2-cell embryos into up to 3 pseudopregnant females to generate viable embryos/live pups. We will charge an extra cost to cover the IVF and embryo transfer procedures.

    Please note that we require you to provide your genotyping protocol, as well as full detail of the genetic content of each strain that you submit for cryopreservation.

Diagram of Sperm Cryopreservation

Embryo Cryopreservation:

Description: Female mice are hormonally superovulated and oocytes are retrieved for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with sperm from donor male. Resulting embryos are placed in cryoprotectant and loaded into multiple straws, which are gradually cooled and stored in liquid-phase liquid nitrogen in two separate tanks.

Material needed: Donor male and 8-10 donor females

Timeline: 12-15 weeks

Diagram of Embryo Cryopreservation

Embryonic Stem Cells Cryopreservation:

Not available, yet.

Oocyte Cryopreservation:

Not available, yet.

Cryostorage:

If you have cryopreserved mouse sperm/embryo/oocytes at another institution, we can cryostorage your samples for an annual fee. We do require that the investigator takes charge of shipping costs into our facility, and that thawing and genotyping protocols are submitted to the CIVM.

The CIVM stores all samples in liquid-phase liquid nitrogen tanks (CryoPlus1, ThermoFisher Scientific). Material retrieved from each strain is split between 2 tanks, a main and a backup tank, for redundancy. For additional safety, these 2 tanks are located in two separate buildings at ICR Sutton. Both tanks are continuously monitored by T-scan alarm systems and undergo annual service, as well as daily visual inspections.

 

Sperm Cryorecovery:

Description: Frozen sperm is cryorecovered by IVF, followed by embryo transfer. We can purchase wild-type female oocyte donors of the same genetic background, or alternatively the investigator can provide homozygous oocyte donors of the same strain.

Material needed: straw with frozen sperm and 8 to 12 females for IVF, 7-16 weeks old.

Timeline: 12-15 weeks

Diagram of Sperm Cryorecovery

 

Embryo Cryorecovery:

Description: Frozen 2-cell embryos are thawed and transferred into pseudopregnant females.

Material needed: straw(s) with frozen 2-cell embryos

Timeline: 8-10 week


Oocyte Cryorecovery:

Not available, yet.

 

Mouse rederivation

Description: Mouse rederivation is a process used to produce pathogen-free mouse colonies by removing microbial contaminants from existing lines. The procedure can be performed either through natural mating or in vitro fertilization (IVF):

  • In natural mating, embryos are obtained from donor mice and transferred into pathogen-free recipient females.
  • In IVF-based rederivation, fertilized embryos are created in vitro using gametes from donor mice and then implanted into clean recipient females.

Both methods effectively eliminate pathogens, allowing safe importation of mouse strains from lower health-status facilities into the ICR BSU. Samples from both litter and recipient mother will be sent for Health Screening and the associated costs will be charged separately to the Investigator.

Material needed: For IVF-based rederivation we require the investigator to provide 2 males, reproductively active, 12-25 weeks old, and the CIVM will purchase wild-type female egg-donors. Alternatively, if maintaining homozygosity is essential, the investigator will need to provide additional 6-10 females, 7-16 weeks old.

Timeline: 12-15 week

Mouse Rederivation Mating Diagram

Mouse Rederivation IVF diagram

We are currently setting up CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing protocols. Soon, you’ll be able to apply for projects that involve developing new alleles based on:

  • Knockout by indel formation
  • Knockout by precise deletion
  • Conditional knockout
  • Knock-in of point mutations
  • Knock-in of small tags
  • Large knock-in
  • Exon replacement

These alleles will be developed based on Electroporation of Microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9 system reagents.

We will collaborate with you to design the best strategy and help you generate the genetically engineered mice you need for your project. 

We also provide:

  • Development of humanised mouse strains
  • Development of Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and organoid models

Latest ICR News

30/10/25 - by

sir-richard-doll-building-sutton-945x532

The Institute of Cancer Research has ranked among the top UK universities for research partnerships and commercialisation.

We were one of only two UK higher education institutions to gain the highest grades in all measures of both research partnerships and commercialisation in the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework.

We also gained the top grade for public and community engagement.

The Knowledge Exchange Framework – also known by its acronym, ‘the KEF’ – is a yearly assessment of how well UK universities work with external partners, local communities and the public.

It’s run by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which funds research at UK universities on behalf of the Government. 

Research partnership

This year the ICR performed very well in both the two measures of research partnership. These metrics look at the proportion of universities’ academic papers that are published with non-academic co-authors, and at the proportion of their research funding that supports collaborative research.

We gained the top possible grade in these metrics due to our strong partnerships with industry and other academic institutions. Only five other higher education institutions gained the same grade.

Intellectual property and commercialisation

We also achieved the top grade in all three measures in the ‘intellectual property and commercialisation category’, alongside six other higher education institutions. These measure the proportion of universities’ income from licensing intellectual property to partners, and the turnover of, and investment in, their mature spinout companies.

Only the ICR and the University of Cambridge gained the top grade in all measures in both categories.

Other highlights of our KEF assessment included gaining the highest possible grade for public and community engagement, and an improvement in a score based on our income from Innovate UK. Innovate UK is part of UKRI and funds collaborative research between academic researchers and companies.

Industry partnerships

The ICR works in collaboration with around 100 industry partners at any one time, across areas from early-stage discovery science to early- and late-stage clinical trials of new cancer treatments.

Last year we made around 20 new industry collaboration agreements relating to joint research, as well as hundreds of other agreements with external partners – including around 250 commercial agreements, 150 clinical trial agreements and 400 non-commercial agreements.

We also signed dozens of licence agreements and filed several new patents.

New collaborations

This year, we won a major award for our work in collaboration with industry from life-sciences sector membership organisation One Nucleus.

Recent new collaborations include a partnership between our Centre for Immunotherapy of Cancer and the company QBiotics, and an Innovate UK-funded partnership between ICR childhood cancer researchers and the Bath University company Revolver Therapeutics.

Meanwhile, recent outcomes to emerge from our commercial collaborations have included regulatory approvals for Roche’s inavolisib in breast cancer, and Verastem Oncology’s avutometinib-defactinib drug combination in ovarian cancer.

We are also a leading research institution in collaboration with other universities – across the UK and internationally. 

One highlight of the past few years is our involvement in the MR-Linac consortium – a group of universities and hospitals from across Europe and the US working with the company Elekta to develop their Unity device.

The Unity combines radiation treatment and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), enabling simultaneous imaging and treatment.

Spinout companies

ICR spinout companies include Monte Rosa Therapeutics – a leading company in the development of molecular glues, an innovative type of cancer drug.

Other recent ICR spinouts include Kodiform Therapeutics and AI-focused Sentinal4D. We recently changed our spinout policy to encourage even more of our scientists to found companies.

Public engagement

The ICR has gained the highest grade for public engagement in all five KEF assessments so far. Our public engagement team works with our researchers to support and inspire their efforts to inform the public about their science – including through community events and visits.

Our public engagement team also runs a programme of engagement events and activities, including showpiece careers evenings for local schools.

We work closely with our partners at The London Cancer Hub in Sutton, south London – including the Borough of Sutton and site developers Socius – to engage the local community in our science.

Dr Jon Wilkinson, Director of Business and Innovation at the ICR, said:

“We’re very proud of our strong track record in partnership – partnership with universities, and partnership with companies from across the wide landscape in oncology, from smaller and mid-size biotech to major pharma companies.

“It’s only by working together across different organisations and sectors that we’re able to make sure that our discoveries are translated into new, impactful treatments for cancer patients. Our collaborations also generate other major benefits to society, including stimulating economic growth.”

Dr Mariana Campos, Public Engagement Manager at the ICR, said:

“We’re thrilled to see our continued success in public and community engagement recognised once again in the latest KEF.

"This reflects the creativity and commitment of our researchers and professional services staff, who give their time to share their science, inspire young people and build strong connections with our local communities. Engagement is at the heart of how we work – it’s about openness, collaboration and making sure our research benefits people far beyond the lab.”