Biological Resource Management and Quality Control
What this domain tests
Biological Resource Management and Quality Control covers culture collections, biobanks, and biological materials used in research or production. Expect questions on accession, authentication, contamination, traceability, cryopreservation, metadata, MTA, and biosecurity.
Core rules
- Traceability runs from donor or isolate to aliquot and downstream use. Record passage number, date, operator, location, and consent or permit.
- Authentication is more than morphology. Human cell lines require STR profiling against a reference; microbial strains may need phenotypic, biochemical, MALDI-TOF, or sequence-based confirmation.
- Quarantine incoming material until identity, sterility, and viability are checked. Do not mix quarantined and released stocks.
- Test for mycoplasma in cell culture; use validated methods such as PCR or culture. Bacterial contamination, endotoxin, and adventitious agents may also require testing.
- Cryopreservation: LN2 vapor reduces cross-contamination risk compared with liquid-phase storage; ampoules must be sealed and inventory mapped. Temperature alarms and backup power are essential.
- Metadata and consent: minimum data, ethics approval, MTA, and benefit-sharing under the Nagoya Protocol apply to many biological resources.
- Biosecurity: controlled access to pathogens, inventory reconciliation, and reporting of loss or theft.
Worked example
A new CHO cell line arrives with a certificate but no STR profile. The lab should quarantine it, test for mycoplasma and sterility, expand it, and authenticate it against a reference profile before releasing it to production. If the STR profile is mismatched or mixed, discard the stock and notify the supplier. The reasoning is that a certificate is evidence of testing, not proof of identity in your hands.
Traps that cost marks
- Accepting morphology as identity.
- Skipping mycoplasma testing because the cells “look fine.”
- Storing vials in liquid nitrogen without cross-contamination controls.
- Releasing material before quarantine.
- Ignoring MTA or Nagoya Protocol obligations.