Six Tennessee research organizations located from Memphis to Knoxville signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on December 4, 1998, to form the Tennessee Mouse Consortium for Functional Genomics. The consortium's purpose is to induce gene mutations in mice as models for human genetic diseases and as subjects for studying gene function. Consortium members are Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), University of Tennessee (Knoxville and Memphis), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The collaboration will combine ORNL's experience in mouse genetics and functional genomics with the other institutions' biological and clinical expertise. Vanderbilt, for example, will contribute proficiency in behavioral neurosciences, while Meharry is especially interested in mutations in the sensory systems. Each institution will play a crucial role in screening mutagenized mice for induced changes in behavior, physiology, biochemistry, and morphology and will choose mutations of interest for detailed study.

The ORNL Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics, with its large collection of mutant mouse stocks and large-scale mutagenesis and phenotype screening program, is the center facility of the consortium. The six sites will be linked by the Internet, and the consortium will be managed by Darla Miller ORNL.