Jackson Laboratory

Located at 600 Main Street, The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical mammalian research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center.  Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. Its research staff of more than 200 Ph.D.s and M.D.s investigates the genetic basis of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, diabetes and many other human diseases and disorders, as well as normal development, reproduction and aging.  JAX is also the world’s source for more than 7,000 strains of genetically defined mice, is home of the mouse genome database and is an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.

 JAX was founded in 1929 by Dr. Clarence Cook Little on the premise that the causes of cancer and other diseases could be discovered through mammalian research.  Two affluent summer residents, Roscoe B. Jackson, head of the Hudson Motorcar Company, and Edsel Ford, son of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, provided initial funds for building the laboratory on 13 acres donated by George Dorr, a major benefactor of the development of Acadia National Park.  JAX has made profound contributions to research and medicine through the years and its creative, collaborative research into human diseases and conditions such as cancer, diabetes and obesity continues the tradition.  At least 26 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine are associated with research, resources or education programs.

 JAX is situated on a 43-acre main campus with 47 buildings and owns a total of 67 buildings on 160 acres adjacent to or near the main campus, including guest houses and two estates that support its teaching and educational mission.  In January 2013, JAX broke ground on the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut.  The Lab distributed three million mice in 2012 to over 20,000 investigators in more than 50 countries, provides education and training for up to 3,000 scientists a year and, as of July 2013, JAX employed 1,514 personnel nationwide, of which 1,282 employees worked at the Bar Harbor facilities.  Summer tours are offered---see its web site for details.

 For more information visit  www.jax.org