Unlock Exclusive Discounts & Flash Sales! Click Here to Join the Deals on Every Wednesday!
Mycoplasma corrupts cell cultures easily—and without scientists’ knowledge—for a multitude of reasons. Mycoplasma doesn’t cause media turbidity or pH changes, brings about few metabolic byproducts, and can’t be detected by microscopy. Once it has contaminated cells, mycoplasma can cause chromosomal aberrations, disrupt nucleic acid synthesis, change membrane antigenicity, inhibit cell proliferation and metabolism, decrease transfection rates, change gene expression profiles, and even bring about cell death. For these reasons, routine screening of cell lines for mycoplasma contamination is essential. The only way to confirm mycoplasma contamination is by routine testing using one or more special techniques, including direct growth on broth/agar, specific DNA staining, PCR, ELISA, RNA labeling and enzymatic procedures.