BAR HARBOR (AP) – The Jackson Laboratory expects to add 400 jobs to its existing 1,300-employee work force within five years as it expands the number of research groups.

The lab, which specializes in mouse genetics, now has about 36 research groups; the long-term goal is to have 55 groups, said Joyce Peterson, the lab’s spokeswoman.

Jackson Lab is getting a grant of up to $85,600 from the Maine Quality Center that will go toward employee training and educational services provided by Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor. The training will be provided at the lab’s Route 3 facility in Bar Harbor, according to a lab press release.

“You can come here with a high school diploma and get all the training you can handle,” Peterson said.

Jackson Lab has doubled its employee base and tripled its budget in the past decade.