⇒ What is the cost of obtaining a knockout?

   The knockouts are provided free of charge.

⇒ I would like to obtain a knockout in a tractable genetic system such as C. elegans but I am unfamiliar to the field. I would like to know more. Where is a good place to start?

  A good primer is Leon Avery's Caenorhabditis elegans WWW Server. This contains non-specialist background information, current literature sources as well as guides to the laboratories and researchers in the field.

⇒ Are there any restrictions on publication of work utilising the knockout allele?

   No. We would ask though that the consortium and the participating group are appropriately acknowledged.

⇒ How long does it take to make a knockout?

   All we can say is that we will do our best. No guarrentees can be made that a successful knockout of any particular gene will be obtained. Please don't for instance base a grant or graduate student project on the basis on us obtaining your desired allele.

⇒ We really need the knockout urgently, can our gene prioritised?

   Every gene request is important to someone. If you require a gene knocked out urgently we would usually advise that you also make the deletion libraries and screen them yourself. Protocols and guidelines as provided by Gary Moulder and Bob Barstead are available here. Members of the consortium will of course be willing to give you any additional advice you may need. Also, if you do independently derive an allele it would be good to let us know so we can take the gene off the immediate knockout list (the inference being that this allele would at some point find its way to the CGC stock centre or otherwise be publicly available due to publication).

⇒ I see that an allele already exists for my gene of interest. How do I request the strain?

  You can get the strain from the originating laboratory. This can be worked out from the allele name:

      ok = Oklahoma, contact Robert Barstead:  
      vc = Vancouver, contact Don Moerman:  
      eh = Sanger Centre, contact Alan Coulson:  
      pk = Netherlands, Ronald Plasterk:  

⇒ I don't want anyone to know about my knockout target. Can this be kept confidential?

   No. The list of genes that have been targeted will be publicly available. However, the identity of the requestor will remain confidential.

⇒ Is there a period when the allele will only be available to the initial requestor?

   No. The mandate and underlying principle of the consortium is to make the alleles freely available to whoever requests them.

⇒ I would like to request a gene to be knocked out. But I do not agree to your terms. How much scope is there for negotiation?

   Probably not much. We believe that our terms are fair and act in the best interests of C. elegans research. Also, we already have plenty of requests from people who are agreeable to our terms. However, there may be certain ramifications of our policies that we may not of nescessarily anticpated or envisaged. Therefore, we will of course listen and discuss any issues you may wish to raise.

⇒ What is the extent of the collaboration?

   Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to do any phenotypic analysis of the null alleles. This is one of the reasons why we request that you enlist the help of a C. elegans researcher to aid you (if of course you are not one already).

      Robert Barstead
      Alan Coulson
      Steven Jones
      Don Moerman