Hi Rochelle, For all new cell lines brought into the cell biology facility here I only accept primary providers (ATCC, ECACC) rather than seed stocks which have been through two, three or more hands (as is usual in academia), unless there is no alternative for a specific line (say, transfectant derivatives etc.). You can readily get biosafety level (BSL) data from these providers - it's standard on all cell line info sheets these days. Keep in mind these sheets only reflect the "baseline" cell. Introducing genes using i.e. certain viral systems may jack up the level. Although levels of individual and/or institutional paranoia vary widely, I personally only get really worried about BSL2 and up; you can pretty much eat BSL1's for all practical purposes. Happily enough, many types of experiments can be done using only BSL1 cells. When analyzing the risks involved, also keep in mind it also makes a difference if you're sorting (flow in air, intense droplet formation) or analysing in a cuvette based closed system as well (much less aerosol formation, but don't assume it's nonexistent!) Keep up the flow, Guy ------------------------------------ Ablynx NV Guy Hermans, PhD Senior Scientist guy.hermans@ablynx.com Technologiepark 4 B-9052 Zwijnaarde Belgium tel: +32 (0)9 261 06 57 fax: +32 (0)9 261 06 27 mobile: +32 (0)486 788 551 ------------------------------------ -----Original Message----- From: Rochelle A. Diamond [mailto:diamond@its.caltech.edu] Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 6:55 PM To: cyto-inbox Subject: working with human cell lines I am reviewing the Caltech Flow Cytometry Cell Sorting Facility biosafety protocols for our IBC. There has been some discussion regarding working with human cell lines such as HeLa and HEK293 cells. Some people consider that they are just like mouse cell lines and others consider them to be just as hazardous as donor blood. How do you people feel about this? We haven't done any work with human blood as we are not associated with a hospital. These cell lines are not screened for pathogens that I know of, except when they are fresh from ATCC. Should I be gowning up and masking to run HeLa? Thanks for your input. Shelley Rochelle (Shelley) Diamond Member of the Professional Staff California Institute of Technology Division of Biology 1200 E. California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125 626-395-4947 phone diamond@its.caltech.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL AND EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE. If the reader of this E-mail message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately at ablynx@ablynx.com. Thank you for your co-operation. "NANOBODY" and "NANOCLONE" are registered trademarks of Ablynx N.V. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Received on Fri Jun 16 11:03:05 2006
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