Helmholtz Center Munich – German Research Center for Environmental Health is a member of the Helmholtz Association, dedicated exclusively to health-related scientific research. Helmholtz Association is the largest research organisation in Germany.

The central objective of HMGU’s Institute of Experimental Genetics (IEG) is to explore the pathogenesis of human diseases, with a focus on diabetes research. The IEG is a global leader in the systemic study of mouse models for human diseases and in deciphering the genes involved.

As part of IEG, the German Mouse Clinic (GMC) is specialised on the whole-body phenotyping of mutant mouse models evaluating numerous physiological pathways within a variety of therapeutic areas. In standardised pipelines, GMC constantly contributes phenotyping data to the worldwide databases of IMPC. Additionally, it offers an open access platform of several phenotyping pipelines including the scientific interpretation of data to clinical research teams from universities, scientific institutions and industry partners.

Since 1997, IEG has established its expertise in the development, cryopreservation and archiving of mutant mouse models. Today it provides an archive of more than 800 mutant mouse lines (sperm and embryos). IEG’s Cryo Unit operates as the German EMMA node: it actively archives and distributes mouse strains that have been developed inhouse, as well as others submitted to EMMA by external research partners.