ATCC

The American Type Culture Collection, commonly known as ATCC, is a nonprofit biological resource center and reference-materials provider headquartered in Manassas, Virginia. Established in 1925, it was created to serve as a national repository for microbiological specimens and to make standardized cultures available to researchers. Over time, ATCC expanded from a culture collection into a broad infrastructure organization supporting biomedical research, biotechnology, diagnostics, food and environmental testing, agriculture, and public-sector science. ATCC collects, authenticates, preserves, and distributes biological materials under standardized conditions. Its holdings include more than 3,000 human and animal cell lines, approximately 1,200 hybridomas, more than 18,000 bacterial strains, thousands of animal and plant viruses, and extensive collections of yeasts, fungi, protozoans, and other protists. These materials are used as reference systems in areas such as drug discovery, vaccine development, infectious-disease research, molecular biology, assay development, cell-based research, quality control, and the validation of diagnostic and analytical methods. The organization’s importance derives not only from the breadth of its holdings but also from its role in maintaining traceable, documented, and reproducible biological reference materials. The organization operates both as a repository and as a service provider. Researchers and institutions can obtain authenticated biological materials, while owners of valuable cultures can use secure-deposit services to maintain backup stocks. ATCC also provides repository-management services for institutions, government agencies, and companies that want to outsource the storage and administration of biological collections. It manages BEI Resources, a program supplying reagents, tools, and information for research involving microorganisms and infectious diseases. ATCC has also developed standards and information resources that extend beyond the physical collection. Its reference materials and quality practices support work by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, AOAC International, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, and the World Health Organization. These standards are applied in therapeutic and diagnostic development, food safety, water and environmental testing, and forensic science. ATCC’s databases include resources for cell-line authentication and microbial genomics. The ATCC Genome Portal, launched in 2019, provides authenticated reference genome assemblies and related metadata for strains in the collection. ATCC serves academic, government, and industrial users. The reference material indicates that universities and colleges account for about 42% of its customers, private industry about 41%, and government organizations about 6%; roughly three-quarters of customers are based in the United States, with the remainder located internationally. Its customer base includes pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, agricultural and diagnostics businesses, food, beverage, and cosmetics manufacturers, and reference laboratories. ATCC maintains authorized distributors in several international markets and also ships from its Virginia facilities. Its principal production and repository facility in Manassas occupies approximately 126,000 square feet, including a biological-material repository, laboratory space, cold rooms, mechanical freezers, vapor-phase liquid-nitrogen storage, and backup power generation. Partnerships with organizations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology and QIAGEN have broadened ATCC’s role in cell-line authentication and biological-data distribution. The organization remains active as a global supplier and standards institution for biological research.

The American Type Culture Collection was established in 1925 as a national center for depositing and distributing microbiological specimens. Its founding purpose reflected a growing need for dependable reference cultures that could be shared across laboratories rather than independently maintained with inconsistent identities, conditions, and documentation. By centralizing specimens and distributing them under defined catalog and preservation practices, ATCC helped make biological experiments more comparable and reproducible. During the twentieth century, the collection broadened beyond conventional bacterial cultures. It accumulated fungi, yeasts, protozoans, viruses, cell lines, hybridomas, and other biological materials used in medical, industrial, agricultural, and environmental research. The organization’s holdings became a reference infrastructure for researchers studying infectious disease, cell biology, biotechnology, diagnostics, food safety, and quality control. Its materials were also incorporated into standards and test systems used by regulatory and professional bodies. ATCC’s role expanded further as biological research became more dependent on authenticated cell lines and standardized assay inputs. In addition to distributing catalog materials, it began offering secure deposits for privately held cultures, including patented biological materials that could be released according to the rights holder’s instructions. Repository-management services allowed institutions, public agencies, and companies to transfer responsibility for storage and collection administration to a specialist organization. The organization developed a large repository and production campus in Manassas, Virginia. The facility includes dedicated laboratory space and multiple forms of low-temperature storage, including vapor-phase liquid-nitrogen freezers, mechanical freezers, and refrigerated rooms. Backup generators support continuity of storage operations. This infrastructure is designed to protect biological materials whose value depends on stable preservation, chain of custody, identity, and controlled distribution. ATCC also became involved in public biological-resource programs. It manages BEI Resources, which supplies reagents and research tools related to microbes. Its standards and reference materials have been used by organizations including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, AOAC International, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, and the World Health Organization. These uses connect the collection to pharmaceutical and diagnostic development, environmental analysis, food and water testing, and forensic applications. In the digital era, ATCC added databases to complement its physical holdings. A 2016 agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology supported standards and a database for short tandem repeat profiles used to authenticate human and mouse cell lines. In 2019, ATCC began hosting the ATCC Genome Portal, providing reference genome assemblies and metadata for authenticated strains. The portal subsequently expanded to include thousands of genomes spanning bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protists, including type strains. In 2022, a partnership with QIAGEN addressed the creation of a commercial RNA-sequencing database covering ATCC human and animal cell lines. ATCC’s international role developed through direct shipments and authorized distribution arrangements. Its users include universities, government laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, agricultural organizations, diagnostics developers, manufacturers, and testing laboratories. The organization reports relationships with other international culture collections, including collections in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and Japan. ATCC has also been associated with a major historical controversy involving biological-material shipments to Iraq before 1989. Materials supplied with the approval of U.S. government departments included anthrax and other agents. Subsequent investigations and accounts linked some of these samples to Iraq’s biological-weapons research, although other materials were described as supporting vaccine or medical research. The episode illustrates the dual-use risks surrounding the distribution of biological reference materials. Despite that controversy, ATCC continues to operate as an active nonprofit biological resource center and global supplier of authenticated research materials.

1. 2022ATCC partners with QIAGEN on cell-line RNA-seq data

   The partnership aims to create a commercial RNA-sequencing database covering ATCC human and animal cell lines.

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2. 2019ATCC Genome Portal launches

   ATCC begins hosting a portal for authenticated reference genome assemblies and metadata associated with collection strains.

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3. 2016ATCC signs a cell-authentication standards agreement with NIST

   The agreement supports short tandem repeat standards and a database for human and mouse cell lines.

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4. 1989Biological-material shipments to Iraq end

   ATCC-related shipments of biological samples to Iraq continue until 1989; later investigations associate some materials with Iraq’s biological-weapons program.

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5. 1925ATCC is established

   The organization is created to function as a national repository for depositing and distributing microbiological specimens.

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A trusted, standardized biological resource center for authenticated research materials, reference strains, cell lines, quality standards, and associated data.

• Human and animal cell linesCell biology research materials

  ATCC distributes more than 3,000 human and animal cell lines used in cancer research, drug discovery, toxicology, virology, molecular biology, assay development, and other laboratory applications. Authentication and documented provenance are central to their value, helping researchers reduce the risk of working with misidentified or contaminated cultures.

• Microorganism strainsMicrobiological reference materials

  The microorganism collection includes more than 18,000 bacterial strains, along with viruses, yeasts, fungi, protozoans, and protists. These reference materials support taxonomy, pathogen research, assay validation, antimicrobial studies, food and environmental testing, and quality-control procedures.

• HybridomasAntibody and immunology research materials

  ATCC maintains approximately 1,200 hybridomas. These cell-based materials are used in antibody research and related immunological applications, providing researchers with preserved biological sources for experimental and development work.

• BEI ResourcesMicrobial research resources

  Managed by ATCC, BEI Resources supplies reagents, research tools, and associated information for studies involving microbes and infectious diseases. It complements ATCC’s broader culture-collection activities by supporting researchers with materials beyond conventional catalog strains.

• ATCC Genome PortalBiological data platform2019

  The ATCC Genome Portal provides authenticated reference genome assemblies and metadata for organisms held in the collection. Its coverage includes bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protists, including type strains, and gives researchers a digital complement to physical reference materials.

• Repository and secure-deposit servicesBiological repository services

  ATCC stores customer-owned cultures and other biological materials as secure backups. It can also preserve patented materials and distribute them under instructions and approvals established by the rights holder, while offering collection-management services to organizations that outsource biological repository operations.

• 2022Partner with QIAGEN on cell-line transcriptomic dataStrategy

  Large authenticated cell-line collections can support standardized molecular datasets for research and commercial analysis.

  What changed. ATCC partnered with QIAGEN to create a commercial database of RNA-sequencing data generated from ATCC human and animal cell lines.

  Aftermath. The partnership broadened the data products associated with ATCC’s cell-line repository.

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• 2019Launch the ATCC Genome PortalProduct launch

  Researchers increasingly require genomic data linked to well-characterized physical strains.

  What changed. ATCC began hosting a portal containing authenticated genome assemblies and metadata for organisms in its collection.

  Aftermath. The portal extended ATCC’s offering from biological specimens into searchable reference-genome information.

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• 2016Build cell-line authentication standards with NISTStrategy

  Cell-line identity and contamination are important reproducibility and quality issues in biomedical research.

  What changed. ATCC signed an agreement with NIST to establish short tandem repeat standards and a database for human and mouse cell lines.

  Aftermath. The initiative strengthened ATCC’s role in authentication and reference standards for cell-based research.

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• 1989Biological-material transfers to IraqControversy

  ATCC, alongside the Centers for Disease Control, supplied biological samples including anthrax, West Nile virus, and botulism-related materials to Iraq until 1989. The shipments had been approved by U.S. government departments. Subsequent accounts linked some materials to Iraq’s biological-weapons research program, including an ATCC anthrax strain identified as a selected weapon strain, while other samples were associated with vaccine development or medical research.

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• 2022ATCC and QIAGEN partner on RNA-seq data for cell lines

  ATCC entered a partnership with QIAGEN to create a commercial database of RNA-sequencing data generated from human and animal cell lines held in ATCC’s repository.

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• 2019ATCC begins hosting the ATCC Genome Portal

  ATCC launched a genome-data resource containing authenticated reference assemblies and metadata for microbial strains in its collection, expanding its role from physical distribution toward genomic information services.

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• 2016ATCC and NIST establish a mouse and human cell-line STR standards initiative

  ATCC entered an agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop standards and a database for short tandem repeat sequences used in the authentication of mouse and human cell lines.

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1. ATCC (company)
2. American Type Culture Collection official website