Common Marmoset

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) have been a biomedical research resource since the early 1960’s, used predominately in studies of infectious disease, immunology and neuroscience. However, cellular and molecular resources have recently been developed that greatly enhance the value of marmosets in research and have increased interest in employing this model.

SNPRC is one of only two national primate research centers that provide marmoset research resources. Our resources include the only large population (>70) of aged marmosets (>10 years) in the country and is now considered one of the largest in the world.

As a non-endangered anthropoid primate with small size, the highest fertility and the shortest life span, marmosets also offer a high efficiency nonhuman primate model for biomedical research. In addition, many areas of research take advantage of unique features of its biology for application to human disease such as aging and reproductive health studies.

They’re closely related to humans, but marmosets also have unique features that make them particularly valuable for certain types of studies. For example, marmosets have small body size and usually produce non-identical twins.