ABS Blog

For the past three decades we have asked our clients to complain. While we strive to get everything done exactly right every time, we know that may not always happen. No organization can guarantee that. It is far better to hear bad news or learn of a shortcoming than not to hear of an issue. That way, problems are solved, and processes are improved.

As one might expect, selecting a provider for cell culture services has many things in common with selecting other types of services providers. There are also factors that are specific to cell culture. This post describes both general and specific criteria and how you can tell in advance that those criteria are likely to be met.

ABS grows very large numbers of cell lines for our clients. Projects range from Master and Working cell banks, hundreds of assay ready cell vials, to cell pellets from hundreds of billions of cells. Cells must pass QC for Mycoplasma and bacterial contamination, must be stored, and shipped on time to the proper locations throughout the world. In addition, various cell culture reports must be uploaded to the client portal, emailed to clients or in some cases entered directly into our clients’ electronic notebooks.

This post is not about how to write a scientific paper, which is a disciplined and rigorous process. It is about communicating science with one another and non-scientists. It is inspired by an interview with Alan Alda that I recently heard and by observing interactions between our clients and other scientists over several decades.

Flexibility is generally viewed as good. ABS is built upon flexibility. We provide custom biological products and services rather than one size fits all solutions to solve our clients’ problems. Flexibility is implicit in our business operations.

This week ABS is having a meeting of our Advisory Board. Our Advisory Board is composed of experts in a number of disciplines. This upcoming meeting was an inspiration for this topic. It occurred to me that we serve in a similar capacity with many of our clients because we do far more than provide highly customized products and services. We also act as trusted advisors in many areas.

An extension of your laboratory or laboratories has been a tag line of ABS for 32 years. It conveys the essence of our Mission to make discovery faster, easier, and more reliable. In practical terms, ABS is your virtual lab partner, providing you with human biospecimens, cell culture services and services related to the processing, analyses, and storage of biological materials. While this post could elaborate upon the specifics of how our services accelerate the work of our clients, this post focuses on the important difference between laboratory and laboratories in how we advance our clients’ missions.

Although all of us understand the importance of a clean and orderly laboratory, experiments and life happen, and the best of intentions are not always acted upon. At ABS, cleaning is a regular part of our operations. Because we are moving to a new facility, hopefully by year end, we are intensifying those efforts to clear any clutter. This will facilitate our move and it helps us to streamline our operations to deliver quality. One area where we continuously strive to make improvements is with sample storage. It is critical that we never lose or misplace a sample. Similarly, many of our clients have asked us for assistance in this area.

Nearly every quarter, I present a brief review of ABS’ operations, finances, and important news with the entire company. The above title in a sense summarizes my next presentation. I often begin by discussing our mission statement and how what we are doing relates to it. This is followed by a brief update on our financials. Then, we look at our progress towards our current goals, and ideally, we check off a few key objectives. Finally, I go through a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

For the past seven years, the Broad Institute and UC Berkeley have contested the patent rights for the CRISPR Cas9 gene-editing technology for eukaryotic cells. It appears that this is now settled pending any appeals by UC Berkley. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided in favor of the Broad Institute. Please see: Broad Institute Wins CRISPR Patent Case | Technology Networks for more information on this topic. The USPTO decision has important ramifications for those using CRISPR for drug discovery and for those contracting with companies for CRISPR related services such as cell line engineering.