Practical Reproductive Techniques for the Common Marmoset

Abstract: The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is commonly used as a subject model animal in experimental research. The species has several advantages compared with other laboratory primates and we succeeded in creating a transgenic (Tg) marmoset with germline transmission of the transgene, the first time in a nonhuman primate. We have been attempting to further improve marmoset reproductive technology, which is more similar to that of humans than rodent experimental animals, such as mice. We have produced many genetically modified marmosets as human disease models and have also improved marmoset reproductive techniques to obtain many fertilized embryos and neonates. For ethical reasons, it is difficult to perform human reproductive studies; thus, we must rely on nonhuman primate models in basic research. For this reason, reproductive studies of marmosets may help the development of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) for humans and may also be useful in human preclinical studies. In this minisymposium, we describe practical marmoset reproductive technologies performed at the Central Institute for Experimental Animals (CIEA) and discuss our planned future research using marmosets in reproductive studies.