Which technique helps maintain a specific strain of mice while reducing genetic drift?

Cryopreservation is a crucial technique in laboratory animal science that helps maintain a specific strain of mice while significantly reducing genetic drift. This process involves freezing biological samples, typically embryos, sperm, or ova, at extremely low temperatures. By doing so, researchers can preserve the genetic integrity of a mouse strain over time, ensuring that they maintain a consistent genetic background.

The challenge of genetic drift arises when a population is bred over generations, which can lead to changes in the genetic makeup due to random mating and loss of alleles. Cryopreservation allows researchers to store viable genetic material that can be thawed and used to regenerate the original population, thereby minimizing the effects of genetic variability that might occur through breeding.

Other techniques, while important in various contexts, do not specifically address the issue of genetic drift in the same way. Breeding, while necessary for producing offspring, does not inherently prevent genetic drift; rather, it can exacerbate it if not carefully managed. Genetic modification introduces changes to the genome but does not directly pertain to maintaining a specific strain in its original form. Isolation is important for controlling environmental factors but does not prevent genetic changes within a breeding population.