CELLBANK AUSTRALIA'S NEWSLETTER

Fast Facts

Mycoplasma can thrive in the same culture conditions as human and other mammalian cells, and have long been recognized as common cell culture contaminants. CellBank Australia provides a two-assay mycoplasma testing service for ** $126 Australian dollars ** per sample, excluding GST. To learn more about our service, click here.

Cell-based Research

Signpost for Greater Investment in Advanced Preclinical Disease Modelling Technologies and Infrastructures

Members of the European Cell-Based Assays Interest Group (EUCAI; Dublin, IE) have discussed how emerging developments in (patient-derived) ex-vivo cultures, induced pluripotent stem cell technology, 3D co-culture and organotypic systems, complemented by advances in single-cell imaging, microfluidics and gene editing technologies, are well positioned to advance preclinical disease modelling and drug screening across challenging disease areas. Their opinion article, titled "Screening out irrelevant cell-based models of disease," was published online in the journal, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, on 12 September 2016.

Here, the authors have also laid out principles for defining disease-relevant assays and have discussed the need to further evolve translational funding schemes and precompetitive research consortia, to support the future development of new preclinical models and assay-screening technologies that provide more robust target validation and greater clinical predictivity. Their hope is that the principles laid out will "function as a signpost for greater investment in the development and uptake of advanced preclinical disease modelling technologies and infrastructures."

To read the article, click here.

Good Cell Culture Practice

'Freaking Out', Testing and Zapping Mycoplasmas

Researchers who were about eight months into a study of 3D kidney cyst formation have said that they "freaked out" when they discovered that their porcine kidney cells were contaminated by mycoplasmas, and decided that they had no choice but to redo their initial work, which took about a year from decontamination to publication. Their story has been told by Jeffrey M. Perkel in a Biocompare editorial article published on 6 September 2016, titled "Mycoplasma Testing-Zapping the Nasty Critters."

To read the article, click here.