Jackson Laboratory Plans Automated Production Vivarium

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) is planning a $75 million mouse production facility in Ellsworth, Maine. The project involves the complete renovation of an existing 143,000-sf building to create advanced vivarium space for the breeding and housing of mice for genetic research. The facility will consolidate all of JAX’s East Coast production operations in a single location, enabling the company’s Bar Harbor campus to provide additional research, education, and conference space. The vivarium will be designed to utilize robotic cage management technologies, eliminating the need for employees wearing personal protective equipment to work within containment areas. Window glove boxes will enable researchers to access the specimens. JAX will initially build a pilot plant to test the planned facility’s operations before proceeding to final construction.