According to the KMPC on Monday, two research projects on mouse phenotypic analysis by South Korean scientists have been published so far in 2016.

In June, a research paper by a team of professors from the Asan Institute for Life Sciences under Seoul Asan Medical Center was published in the Nature Biotechnology journal, showing research findings on the production of mutant mice using a next-generation genome editing tool called Cpf1.

The most recent paper appeared in Nature Cell Biology, a scientific journal focusing on cells, in its September edition. A team of life science professors from Seoul National University discovered that sex hormones establish a reserve pool of adult muscle stem cells, also using genetically engineered mice.

“These findings are very meaningful not only because they are the first-ever findings in related topics but also it shows the potential of South Korea’s science in phenotyping analysis,” Seong Je-kyung, director of KMPC, told The Korea Herald on Monday.

South Korea has lagged behind the US and the European Union in mutant mouse production and phenotypic analysis. Those countries formed the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium in 2011, to which KMPC became a member in 2013. Most South Korean researchers have relied on imported genetically engineered mice due to patent issues and lack of technology or facilities.

“With these recent achievement, South Korea has become a global player and we will see more accomplishments in the near future,” Seong said.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)