Laboratory Animal Management Assistant (LAMA): a LIMS for active research colonies

Mamm Genome. 2010 Jun;21(5-6):224-30. doi: 10.1007/s00335-010-9258-6. Epub 2010 Apr 22.

Abstract

Laboratory Animal Management Assistant (LAMA) is an internet-based system for tracking large laboratory mouse colonies. It has a user-friendly interface with powerful search capabilities that ease day-to-day tasks such as tracking breeding cages and weaning litters. LAMA was originally developed to manage hundreds of new mouse strains generated by a large functional genomics program, the Pleiades Promoter Project ( http://www.pleiades.org ). The software system has proven to be highly flexible, suitable for diverse management approaches to mouse colonies. It allows custom tagging and grouping of animals, simplifying project-specific handling and access to data. Finally, LAMA was developed in close collaboration with mouse technicians to ease the transition from paper- or Excel-based management systems to computerized tracking, allowing data export in a popular spreadsheet format and automatic printing of cage cards. LAMA is an open-access software tool, freely available to the research community at http://launchpad.net/mousedb .

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Database Management Systems
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Genomics / methods
  • Laboratory Animal Science / methods
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred Strains*
  • Research
  • Software*

Grants and funding