The NSRRC is funded by the NIH to facilitate biomedical research. Swine models and related resources that are produced by the NSRRC with the aid of NIH funding must be distributed and shared with the scientific research community in a timely fashion. Two NIH committees govern NSRRC actions regarding model production and distribution – the NSRRC Prioritization Committee and the NSRRC Steering Committee. In general, the NSRRC will delay public disclosure and third-party distribution of newly created models while the model requestor demonstrates progress towards the first publication of the primary results (molecular, physiological, anatomical, or biochemical characterization that may include experimental interventions required for model validation). The status of each project is discussed at a quarterly meeting between NSRRC management and the NIH Steering Committee. If progress towards publication of primary results for a new model is not apparent after one year, the NSRRC Steering Committee may submit a project-specific progress report to the NIH NSRRC Prioritization Committee to evaluate the timing of public disclosure and general distribution. The evaluation process will include consideration of issues related to intellectual property protection, requestor contribution (monetary and intellectual), and other extenuating circumstances. The Prioritization Committee can authorize new model distribution/sharing at any time due to lack of progress towards publication by the model requestor and/or urgent need for the model, as in a public health emergency. All NSRRC actions related to lack of progress towards the first publication of primary results will involve discussions with the original requesting investigators.

Swine are the optimal model species for investigation of a large number of human diseases and have made valuable contributions to almost every field of human medicine. Swine share anatomic and physiologic characteristics with humans that make them ideal models for research. In addition, the anatomy and physiology make pig organs likely candidates for xenotransplantation.

The National Swine Resource and Research Center (NSRRC) was established in 2003 to develop the infrastructure to ensure that biomedical investigators across a variety of disciplines have access to critically needed swine models of human health and disease. The NSRRC will also serve as a central resource for reagents, creation of new genetically modified swine, and information and training related to use of swine models in biomedical research.

Questions, comments, feedback? Contact the NSRRC at NSRRC@missouri.edu.

National Swine Resource and Research Center is pleased to be a part of the
Resource Identification Initiative, a project aimed at clearly identifying key research resources used in the course of scientific research. These key research resources include model organisms, antibodies and software tools. All citations for the pig stored in NSRRC can now also be found on this page.

A list of participating journals can be found on the Resource Identification Initiative Endorsement Page. This is a portal where publishers are directing authors during the publication process, usually at the acceptance of the publication. Authors are asked to paste the ‘cite this’ text in the methods section for each organism, antibody and software tool used in the course of research, a step that helps to disambiguate the organisms used in research and allow for straightforward aggregation of data around key resources, thereby questions such as “who else used this pig?” will be answered more easily. The format for citation is relatively straightforward, and we provide a couple of examples below:

• Genetically modified organisms: “Pigs used in this study were GGTA1 knockout with the addition of
  hDAF, (RRID:NSRRC:0009).”
• Antibodies: “Sections were stained with a rabbit polyclonal antibody against ERK1 (Abgent Cat# AP7251E, RRID:AB_2140114).”
• Software tools:
  “…terminals were mapped with a computer-assisted mapping program (Neurolucida, v10, RRID:SCR_001775).”

The NSRRC is funded by the following NIH Institutes:

Office of the Director,
Division of Comparative Medicine,
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initatives (DPCPSI),
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).