Axenic and Gnotobiotic Service of CNRS TAAM (Typage et Archivage d’Animaux Modèles)

CNRS TAAM (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unit: Typage et Archivage d’Animaux Modèles)

The Typage et Archivage d’Animaux Modèles (TAAM) is a service and research unit which offers a wide range of services around model rats and mice for fundamental, biomedical and pharmaceutical research. For almost 70 years, 50 engineers and technicians have been applying their skills and expertise daily at the service of the scientific community by:

  • Offering a range of high-tech services around 7 poles of expertise: exploration through multimodal in vivo imaging, bespoke colony management, experimentation design and follow-up, management of axenic and gnotobiotic colonies, cryopreservation and assisted reproduction, genetic and microbiological analysis and distribution of models in France and abroad.
  • Responding to researchers’ expectations by innovating,
  • Contributing to the transfer of knowledge by training students and by participating in scientific and technical training programmes designed for research laboratory engineers and technicians.

Service Description:

The TAAM offers a large, and constantly increasing, capacity in breeding isolators (24 now, 48 in 2025 and 72 in 2026), thus making it possible to provide the scientific community with experimental batches of germ-free or gnotobiotic, inbred or genetically modified mice.

Transport of axenic animals to their users has been optimised and diversified in order to conserve their health status and to meet the expectations of all researchers (triple-packaging boxes, transport isolator, cylinders…).

Included in the Service:

  • Germ-free redirection
  • Breeding under germ-free or gnotobiotic status in isolators
  • Monitoring of the health status and genotype of germ-free mice
  • Import or export of germ-free or gnotobiotic mice.
Additional Support
  • Imaging
  • Experimentation in isolators or IVC by TAAM technicians or by searchers
  • Link to the Gnotanima French network: a French program networking 4 platforms dedicated and specialised on phenotyping germ-free or gnotobiotic mice strains ( tabgnavzn@vafrez.seg)
INFRAFRONTIER® and European Mouse Mutant Archive - EMMA® are registered trademarks at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).