American Type Culture Collection
Encyclopedia
The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) is a private, not-for-profit biological
resource center whose mission focuses on the acquisition, authentication, production, preservation, development and distribution of standard reference microorganism
s, cell lines and other materials for research in the life sciences. Established in 1914 and originally incorporated by scientists in 1925 to serve as a worldwide repository and distribution center for cultures of microorganisms, the ATCC has developed into the global leader in research and development expertise for identifying, characterizing, preserving and distributing a wide range of cell lines and microbes. Aside from maintaining the biorepository, an R&D program and a product development team, the ATCC also competes for federal grant
s and contracts and engages in partnerships and collaborations with academic institutions and private companies.
, bacteria
, virus
es, fungi and protozoa
, as well as developing and evaluating assays and techniques for validating research resources and preserving and distributing biological materials to the public and private sector research communities. Their management philosophy emphasizes customer satisfaction, value addition, cost-effective operations and competitive benchmarking
for all areas of the enterprise.
ATCC’s collections include a wide range of biological materials for research, including cell lines, molecular genomics
tools, microorganisms and bioproducts. The organization holds a collection of more than 4,000 human, animal and plant cell lines and an additional 1,200 hybridoma
s. The molecular genomics collection at ATCC contains 8 million cloned gene
s from a host of species, including human
, mouse
, soybean
, rat
, monkey
, zebrafish and several disease
vectors. ATCC’s microorganism collection includes a collection of more than 18,000 strains of bacteria from 900 genera, as well as 2,000 different types of animal viruses and 1,000 plant viruses. In addition, ATCC maintains collections of protozoans, yeast
s and fungi with over 49,000 yeast and fungi strains from 1,500 genera and 2,000 strains of protist
s.
In addition to serving as a biorepository and distributor, ATCC provides specialized services related to its overall mission as a biological resource center. Individuals and groups can employ a safe deposit service for their own cell cultures, providing a secure back-up for valuable biomaterials on a cGMP
basis if required. ATCC also is able to retain secure samples of patent
ed materials and distribute them according to instructions and approval of the patent holder. ATCC provides expert biological repository management services to institutions, agencies and companies wishing to outsource the handling of their own culture collections.
. Standards from ATCC also help scientists in a wide range of industries ensure safety and quality in their products. ATCC reagents are cited as standards by such federal agencies as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as organizations such as AOAC International
, the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, and the World Health Organization
. ATCC-produced standards are used by in a host of applications relevant to the lives of citizens, including in developing therapeutic and diagnostic products, testing the quality of food, water and environmental samples, making accurate medical diagnoses and obtaining sound forensic information.
. The 126000 sq ft (11,705.8 m²). building is monitored constantly by on-site security staff, and electric power is backed up by on-site generators. The repository portion of the facility occupies 18000 sq ft (1,672.3 m²). and contains 200 freezers to store biomaterials, including 65 vapor-phase liquid nitrogen
freezers and 50 mechanical freezers, as well as cold rooms for storage at 4°-8 °C. The repository space is complemented by 35000 sq ft (3,251.6 m²). of laboratory space. ATCC also occupies 45000 sq ft (4,180.6 m²) of research and administrative space at the Prince William County campus of George Mason University
, which is located across the street from ATCC’s Manassas building.
The community of users of ATCC products and services is international, and includes researchers in academia and government, as well as private industry. Over 80% of ATCC’s 17,000-strong customer base represents academia and industry – 42% from universities and colleges and 41% from private industry. Government customers comprise 6% of the organization’s total. Three-quarters of ATCC customers hail from the U.S., while the remaining 25% are international customers. ATCC maintains authorized distributors in Europe
, Japan
, Australia
, New Zealand
, Hong Kong
, Singapore
, South Korea
, Israel, and Taiwan
, and makes other international shipments directly from its Virginia facilities. Among the industries represented ATCC’s customer base are the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural and diagnostics industries, as well as food, beverage and cosmetics makers and reference and testing laboratories.
The ATCC also has close working links with several other international culture collections, such as the UK's National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria
(NCPPB), Landcare Research in New Zealand, the Collection Française de Bactéries Phytopathogènes (CFBP, or Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria) in France, Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms
(BCCM), IBSF in Brazil, the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen
(DSMZ, or German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures), the Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB), and others.
(the causative agent of anthrax
), Aspergillus
fungal cultures producing the mycotoxin
aflatoxin
), Brucella melitensis (causing brucellosis
), Clostridium botulinum
, Clostridium perfringens
, E. coli and Salmonella cholerae-suis. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-09-30-iraq-ushelp-list_x.htm.
This frequently cited list, however, includes both difficult-to-obtain, highly dangerous organisms like anthrax and common, easily identified organisms found in most or all households worldwide, such as the principal aflatoxin producer Aspergillus flavus
, a species especially ubiquitous on peanuts or in maize corn fields, and E. coli, found in all animal guts and most natural waterways.
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
resource center whose mission focuses on the acquisition, authentication, production, preservation, development and distribution of standard reference microorganism
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s, cell lines and other materials for research in the life sciences. Established in 1914 and originally incorporated by scientists in 1925 to serve as a worldwide repository and distribution center for cultures of microorganisms, the ATCC has developed into the global leader in research and development expertise for identifying, characterizing, preserving and distributing a wide range of cell lines and microbes. Aside from maintaining the biorepository, an R&D program and a product development team, the ATCC also competes for federal grant
Federal grant
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of...
s and contracts and engages in partnerships and collaborations with academic institutions and private companies.
Biological materials
ATCC serves U.S. and international researchers by characterizing cell linesCell culture
Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...
, bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
es, fungi and protozoa
Protozoa
Protozoa are a diverse group of single-cells eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Throughout history, protozoa have been defined as single-cell protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement...
, as well as developing and evaluating assays and techniques for validating research resources and preserving and distributing biological materials to the public and private sector research communities. Their management philosophy emphasizes customer satisfaction, value addition, cost-effective operations and competitive benchmarking
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost...
for all areas of the enterprise.
ATCC’s collections include a wide range of biological materials for research, including cell lines, molecular genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
tools, microorganisms and bioproducts. The organization holds a collection of more than 4,000 human, animal and plant cell lines and an additional 1,200 hybridoma
Hybridoma
Hybridoma technology is a technology of forming hybrid cell lines by fusing a specific antibody-producing B cell with a myeloma cell that is selected for its ability to grow in tissue culture and for an absence of antibody chain synthesis...
s. The molecular genomics collection at ATCC contains 8 million cloned gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s from a host of species, including human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
, monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, zebrafish and several disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
vectors. ATCC’s microorganism collection includes a collection of more than 18,000 strains of bacteria from 900 genera, as well as 2,000 different types of animal viruses and 1,000 plant viruses. In addition, ATCC maintains collections of protozoans, yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
s and fungi with over 49,000 yeast and fungi strains from 1,500 genera and 2,000 strains of protist
Protist
Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista, which includes mostly unicellular organisms that do not fit into the other kingdoms, but this group is contested in modern taxonomy...
s.
In addition to serving as a biorepository and distributor, ATCC provides specialized services related to its overall mission as a biological resource center. Individuals and groups can employ a safe deposit service for their own cell cultures, providing a secure back-up for valuable biomaterials on a cGMP
Cyclic guanosine monophosphate
Cyclic guanosine monophosphate is a cyclic nucleotide derived from guanosine triphosphate . cGMP acts as a second messenger much like cyclic AMP...
basis if required. ATCC also is able to retain secure samples of patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed materials and distribute them according to instructions and approval of the patent holder. ATCC provides expert biological repository management services to institutions, agencies and companies wishing to outsource the handling of their own culture collections.
Biological standards
ATCC biological standards are vital to assuring reliability of research results, reproducibility of experimentation and consistency in the scientific methodScientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
. Standards from ATCC also help scientists in a wide range of industries ensure safety and quality in their products. ATCC reagents are cited as standards by such federal agencies as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as organizations such as AOAC International
AOAC International
AOAC International is a non-profit scientific association with headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. It publishes standardised, chemical analysis methods designed to increase confidence in results of chemical and microbiologic analyses...
, the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, and the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
. ATCC-produced standards are used by in a host of applications relevant to the lives of citizens, including in developing therapeutic and diagnostic products, testing the quality of food, water and environmental samples, making accurate medical diagnoses and obtaining sound forensic information.
Facilities
ATCC activities are housed in a custom-built facility in Manassas, VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The 126000 sq ft (11,705.8 m²). building is monitored constantly by on-site security staff, and electric power is backed up by on-site generators. The repository portion of the facility occupies 18000 sq ft (1,672.3 m²). and contains 200 freezers to store biomaterials, including 65 vapor-phase liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen in a liquid state at a very low temperature. It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. Liquid nitrogen is a colourless clear liquid with density of 0.807 g/mL at its boiling point and a dielectric constant of 1.4...
freezers and 50 mechanical freezers, as well as cold rooms for storage at 4°-8 °C. The repository space is complemented by 35000 sq ft (3,251.6 m²). of laboratory space. ATCC also occupies 45000 sq ft (4,180.6 m²) of research and administrative space at the Prince William County campus of George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, which is located across the street from ATCC’s Manassas building.
The community of users of ATCC products and services is international, and includes researchers in academia and government, as well as private industry. Over 80% of ATCC’s 17,000-strong customer base represents academia and industry – 42% from universities and colleges and 41% from private industry. Government customers comprise 6% of the organization’s total. Three-quarters of ATCC customers hail from the U.S., while the remaining 25% are international customers. ATCC maintains authorized distributors in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Israel, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and makes other international shipments directly from its Virginia facilities. Among the industries represented ATCC’s customer base are the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural and diagnostics industries, as well as food, beverage and cosmetics makers and reference and testing laboratories.
The ATCC also has close working links with several other international culture collections, such as the UK's National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria
National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria
The National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria is a UK Government owned, non-profit-making biological culture collection which specialises in acquiring, authenticating, preserving, and distributing plant pathogenic reference bacteria, and DNA for research in the life sciences...
(NCPPB), Landcare Research in New Zealand, the Collection Française de Bactéries Phytopathogènes (CFBP, or Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria) in France, Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms
Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms
The Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms is a Belgian government funded consortium of four scientific institutions, who manage and exploit a collection of fungi, bacteria and plasmids...
(BCCM), IBSF in Brazil, the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen
Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen
The Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen - DSMZ - GmbH was founded 1969 as the national culture collection in Germany...
(DSMZ, or German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures), the Japanese Collection of Research Bioresources (JCRB), and others.
Supply to Iraqi weapons program
ATCC supplied Iraqi organisations, including Baghdad University, with several pathogens between 1985 and 1989. These include Bacillus anthracisBacillus anthracis
Bacillus anthracis is the pathogen of the Anthrax acute disease. It is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, with a width of 1-1.2µm and a length of 3-5µm. It can be grown in an ordinary nutrient medium under aerobic or anaerobic conditions.It is one of few bacteria known to...
(the causative agent of anthrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
), Aspergillus
Aspergillus
Aspergillus is a genus consisting of several hundred mold species found in various climates worldwide. Aspergillus was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli...
fungal cultures producing the mycotoxin
Mycotoxin
A mycotoxin is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of the fungus kingdom, commonly known as molds. The term ‘mycotoxin’ is usually reserved for the toxic chemical products produced by fungi that readily colonize crops...
aflatoxin
Aflatoxin
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus, the most notable ones being Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are toxic and among the most carcinogenic substances known...
), Brucella melitensis (causing brucellosis
Brucellosis
Brucellosis, also called Bang's disease, Crimean fever, Gibraltar fever, Malta fever, Maltese fever, Mediterranean fever, rock fever, or undulant fever, is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unsterilized milk or meat from infected animals or close contact with their secretions...
), Clostridium botulinum
Clostridium botulinum
Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that produces several toxins. The best known are its neurotoxins, subdivided in types A-G, that cause the flaccid muscular paralysis seen in botulism. It is also the main paralytic agent in botox. C. botulinum is an anaerobic...
, Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium of the genus Clostridium. C. perfringens is ever present in nature and can be found as a normal component of decaying vegetation, marine sediment, the intestinal tract of humans and other vertebrates,...
, E. coli and Salmonella cholerae-suis. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-09-30-iraq-ushelp-list_x.htm.
This frequently cited list, however, includes both difficult-to-obtain, highly dangerous organisms like anthrax and common, easily identified organisms found in most or all households worldwide, such as the principal aflatoxin producer Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus flavus is a fungus. It is a common mold in the environment, and can cause storage problems in stored grains. It can also be a human pathogen, associated with aspergillosis of the lungs and sometimes causing corneal, otomycotic, and nasoorbital infections. Many strains produce...
, a species especially ubiquitous on peanuts or in maize corn fields, and E. coli, found in all animal guts and most natural waterways.