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In search of the lost strain
Trends in Biotechnology May/June 1983
in search of the lost strain 'If it's not in the ATCC catalogue then k might as well not exist.' This comment on biotechnologists' reliance on the American Tissue Culture Collection for tracking down useful plant and animal cell lines may be over-stated, but it does highlight a major problem. Compared with the large and often well-organized microbial collections ~, plant and animal cell cultures are in a chaotic state. Perhaps thousands of cell lines are held in hundreds ofsmaU collections in laboratories of universities, industry and government research establishments, but there is no quick and convenient way that biotechnologists can fred them. Catalogues of these holdings, if they exist, are rarely published, yet they represent a resource of immense potential value. The major purpose of a recent workshop in Brussels* was to tackle this problem. A survey of European biologists has revealed that about 44 per cent traced the cells they needed for their research by surveying the literature, a process which is time-consuming and ineffective in the many cases where complete strain details are missing from published papers. A further 35 per cent of respondents relied chiefly on personal contacts to provide leads towards the cells they wanted. Here again, time is wasted and opportunities lost if the scientist's range of friends and acquaintances does
not include someone with the right information; this is particularly problematic for biotechnologists moving into new areas of research. The Brussels workshop, attended by about 30 people closely involved in the use or management of cultures, was in no doubt that more effective information sources are urgently required. In the 1970s the European Society for Animal Cell Technology set out to fill the animal/plant cell and virus void. Initially, they thought of setting up a cell bank, but it soon became apparent that the cost would be prohibitive and the political arguments over the siting of the bank would be intense. The most useful practicable step would be to establish a centralized information bank, leaving the cells where they were. The result is MIRDAB - Microbiological Resource Databank - a joint venture of the European Federation of Cell and Virus Collections, the World Federation for Culture Collections and Excerpta Medica.
HRDAB It is too early to tell how much MIRDAB will aid biotechnologists but, if enough people can be induced to fdl in the simple data-entry forms, the basis of a valuable information resource will be created. Biotechnologists might prefer more information to be put into the bank; the absence of specific questions concerning the metabolic products of mutant animal cells is noteworthy. However, the inclusion of information about growth in agitated suspension is welcome, as are details on the availability of ceils and relevant patents. An attempt to impose some order on the proliferation of hybridomas - 'a cataloguer's nightmare' in the words of Bryan Griffiths of the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research - will be greeted with relie£ Questions remain over the long-term funding of MIRDAB and the ideal format for bioteclmologists. Clearly, however, the system has the potential to provide an effective and rapid way of building on the years of experience within research laboratories to develop new biotechnological processes.
Plans for expansion MIRDAB began collecting entries on stored cell lines at the end of 1982 and the first catalogue is planned for late this year. Initially the project is concentrating on lines in Europe of nine main types: animal cells (mutant, genetically engineered, hybrid, hybridomas and general); plant cells (genetically engineered and general); STEVE PRENTIS *,~IRDAB Workshop, Brussels, 24 May 1983. and plant and animal viruses. Plans for Trends in Biotechnology Sponsored by the Commission of the European the future include the collection of inCommunities and organized by Excerpta Medica. formation on cells held in the rest of the For more information on MIRDAB and datainput forms contact Dr E. Schrara, Excerpta world, greater coverage of microbial Reference 1 Kirsop, B. (1983) Trends in M__,dic_'_~PO Box l lg~ IO00 BC. Amsterdam, The collections and the facility for on-line Biotechnology 1, 4-8 Netherlands. access to the databank. © 1983,El~vler Sconce Pubhshers B V, Amsterdam 0166- 9430/83/$0100
in search of the lost strain 'If it's not in the ATCC catalogue then k might as well not exist.' This comment on biotechnologists' reliance on the American Tissue Culture Collection for tracking down useful plant and animal cell lines may be over-stated, but it does highlight a major problem. Compared with the large and often well-organized microbial collections ~, plant and animal cell cultures are in a chaotic state. Perhaps thousands of cell lines are held in hundreds ofsmaU collections in laboratories of universities, industry and government research establishments, but there is no quick and convenient way that biotechnologists can fred them. Catalogues of these holdings, if they exist, are rarely published, yet they represent a resource of immense potential value. The major purpose of a recent workshop in Brussels* was to tackle this problem. A survey of European biologists has revealed that about 44 per cent traced the cells they needed for their research by surveying the literature, a process which is time-consuming and ineffective in the many cases where complete strain details are missing from published papers. A further 35 per cent of respondents relied chiefly on personal contacts to provide leads towards the cells they wanted. Here again, time is wasted and opportunities lost if the scientist's range of friends and acquaintances does
not include someone with the right information; this is particularly problematic for biotechnologists moving into new areas of research. The Brussels workshop, attended by about 30 people closely involved in the use or management of cultures, was in no doubt that more effective information sources are urgently required. In the 1970s the European Society for Animal Cell Technology set out to fill the animal/plant cell and virus void. Initially, they thought of setting up a cell bank, but it soon became apparent that the cost would be prohibitive and the political arguments over the siting of the bank would be intense. The most useful practicable step would be to establish a centralized information bank, leaving the cells where they were. The result is MIRDAB - Microbiological Resource Databank - a joint venture of the European Federation of Cell and Virus Collections, the World Federation for Culture Collections and Excerpta Medica.
HRDAB It is too early to tell how much MIRDAB will aid biotechnologists but, if enough people can be induced to fdl in the simple data-entry forms, the basis of a valuable information resource will be created. Biotechnologists might prefer more information to be put into the bank; the absence of specific questions concerning the metabolic products of mutant animal cells is noteworthy. However, the inclusion of information about growth in agitated suspension is welcome, as are details on the availability of ceils and relevant patents. An attempt to impose some order on the proliferation of hybridomas - 'a cataloguer's nightmare' in the words of Bryan Griffiths of the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research - will be greeted with relie£ Questions remain over the long-term funding of MIRDAB and the ideal format for bioteclmologists. Clearly, however, the system has the potential to provide an effective and rapid way of building on the years of experience within research laboratories to develop new biotechnological processes.
Plans for expansion MIRDAB began collecting entries on stored cell lines at the end of 1982 and the first catalogue is planned for late this year. Initially the project is concentrating on lines in Europe of nine main types: animal cells (mutant, genetically engineered, hybrid, hybridomas and general); plant cells (genetically engineered and general); STEVE PRENTIS *,~IRDAB Workshop, Brussels, 24 May 1983. and plant and animal viruses. Plans for Trends in Biotechnology Sponsored by the Commission of the European the future include the collection of inCommunities and organized by Excerpta Medica. formation on cells held in the rest of the For more information on MIRDAB and datainput forms contact Dr E. Schrara, Excerpta world, greater coverage of microbial Reference 1 Kirsop, B. (1983) Trends in M__,dic_'_~PO Box l lg~ IO00 BC. Amsterdam, The collections and the facility for on-line Biotechnology 1, 4-8 Netherlands. access to the databank. © 1983,El~vler Sconce Pubhshers B V, Amsterdam 0166- 9430/83/$0100