ATCC

ATCC, short for American Type Culture Collection, is a nonprofit organization that collects, authenticates, preserves, and distributes biological materials for scientific research and development. Its catalog includes cell lines, microorganisms, and other reference materials used to study biology, medicine, and biotechnology. ATCC’s materials are accompanied by quality-control data and authentication information to help researchers verify identity and purity.

The organization traces its origins to 1925, when a central repository for type cultures was established to support public health and industrial research. It is headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, and serves researchers worldwide through its distribution network and data resources. ATCC maintains large living collections, including mammalian, bacterial, and fungal cell lines, as well as viruses and other specimens, and provides services such as cell-line authentication, contamination testing (notably mycoplasma testing), and reference standards. The materials are used for basic science, drug discovery, diagnostics, and quality assurance in biomanufacturing.

In addition to material provision, ATCC offers data resources and standards-related services to support reproducibility and quality in life sciences research. It collaborates with academic, government, and industry partners to advance standards, best practices, and education about biospecimen handling, authentication, and biosafety.

ATCC plays a central role as a widely used supplier and curator of biological materials, helping researchers obtain well-characterized, quality-controlled materials that support experimental reliability and scientific progress.