Collaboration in action: Protocol development across the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network

Collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches are key factors in the advancement of scientific research. This Backstory introduces the guiding philosophy and the collaborative nature of the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network (NMGN) and serves to set the foundation for the contents of this STAR Protocols focused collection. The collection brings together protocols and Primers that highlight methodological advances in mouse genetics, disease modelling, phenotyping, data integration, and related experimental approaches developed across the NMGN. Together, these contributions illustrate how distributed expertise, shared infrastructure, and coordinated protocol development can strengthen reproducibility, support responsible use of in vivo models and emerging alternatives, and accelerate translational biomedical research.