Since 1929, The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) has transformed our understanding of genetics and human disease—advancing discoveries, technologies and generations of scientists that continue to improve human health.
From our founding in 1929 to today, these moments shaped JAX into the global leader in genetics and genomic medicine.
The Jackson Laboratory is founded in Bar Harbor, Maine, to study mammalian genetics and cancer. From the beginning, JAX scientists use genetically defined mice to explore how genetics shapes health and disease, helping establish an approach that would transform biomedical research.
Why the mouse?
A devastating fire destroys much of JAX and nearly all its mouse colonies. Scientists around the world return breeding pairs originally shared by JAX, helping restore all but one strain and demonstrating the power of sharing scientific resources.
Photos from the fire
JAX scientists make pioneering discoveries that help shape modern medicine, including work that advances bone marrow transplantation and research into cells capable of developing into different tissues — work that lays the foundation for modern stem cell biology.
Our medical impact
JAX and Johns Hopkins launch what becomes the McKusick Short Course, bringing scientists and clinicians together to learn from advances in genetics. More than six decades later, the course continues to train new generations of leaders in genetics and genomics.
Education at JAX
JAX Professor George D. Snell receives the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that revealed how the immune system distinguishes the body’s own tissues from foreign ones — work that paved the way for life-saving organ transplantation.
Learn more
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) designates the JAX Cancer Center as one of only seven basic laboratory cancer centers in the country, recognizing its foundational research in cancer prevention and treatment. Today, the JAX Cancer Center holds an "exceptional" rating from the NCI.
JAX cancer research
JAX expands across the U.S. and around the world, adding new campuses and capabilities in human genomics and stem cell biology that complement its foundational expertise in mammalian genetics.
Our campuses
JAX is bringing together its expertise in mouse models, human cellular models and data science to understand disease in new ways and accelerate progress toward better treatments and healthier lives.
Explore our work