ATCC was established in 1925 when a committee of scientists recognized a need for a central collection of microorganisms that would serve scientists all over the world. The early years were spent at the McCormick Institute in Chicago until the organization moved to Georgetown University in Washington, DC in 1937. As research in the biosciences expanded ATCC began to diversify its holdings, and as the collections grew, ATCC occupied a series of sites, each providing more storage space. ATCC moved to its current location in 1998.

ATCC headquarters and bioproduction facilities are located in Manassas, Virginia, near the Nation’s Capital and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The 126,000 sq. ft. building is continuously monitored by on-site security staff and electric power is backed up by on-site generators. The repository portion of the facility occupies 18,000 sq. ft. and contains 200 freezers for the storage of biomaterials, including vapor-phase liquid nitrogen freezers, mechanical freezers, and cold rooms. The repository space is complemented by 35,000 sq. ft. of laboratory space.

ATCC customers include leading researchers and scientists in academia, government, and private industry. Over 80% of ATCC’s customer base represents academia and industry – about 40% each from academia and private industry. Government customers comprise 6% of the organization’s total. Further, 75% of ATCC customers are from the U.S., while the remaining 25% are international.

ATCC has a direct sales force in the U.S. and maintains a global network of authorized distributors and partners to reach the scientific community in more than 150 countries. Among the industries represented in ATCC’s customer base are the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, and diagnostics industries; food, beverage, and cosmetics producers; reference and testing laboratories; academic institutions; government agencies; private foundations, and non-profit organizations.

ATCC’s collections include a wide range of biological materials for research, including cell lines, molecular genomics tools, microorganisms, and bioproducts. The organization holds an extensive collection:

• More than 3,400 continuous cell lines available by species, tissue/disease types, and signaling pathways
• Tumor cell and molecular panels for cancer research, annotated with gene mutations and molecular profiles
• Ethnic and gender diverse induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) collections derived from normal/disease tissues, as well as adult human mesenchymal stem cells and mouse embryonic stem cells
• Donor diverse normal human primary cells and hTERT immortalized cells
• Dissociation and transfection reagents, classical media formulations and supplements, and sera
• Microbial panels for research related to infectious disease, antibiotic-resistance, food and environmental testing, and population studies
• Over 18,000 bacterial strains useful in industry applications, assay development, quality control, and environmental studies
• More than 3,000 human and animal viruses isolated from various sources
• Fungi and yeast representing over 7,600 species
• Taxonomically diverse protists including, parasitic protozoa and algae
• More than 1,000 genomic and synthetic nucleic acids, as well as certified reference materials
• Over 500 microbial cultures recommended as quality control reference strains

ATCC is an ISO 9001:2015 certified, ISO 13485:2016 certified, ISO 17025:2005 and ISO Guide 34:2009 accredited organization. ISO accreditations have allowed ATCC to evolve from a traditional culture collection to Biological Resource Center with an infrastructure that supports the future of life science and biotechnology.

ATCC is committed to provide quality products and services to the life science community. The commitment includes the following certifications and accreditations:

• ISO 9001:2015 Certified
• ISO 13485:2016 Certified
• ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accredited
• ISO Guide 34:2009 Accredited

An experienced Quality management team who ensure that the acquisition, authentication, preservation, development and distribution of biological materials are being performed under, and conform to a documented quality management system.

Please contact the Manager, Quality Assurance with any questions regarding ATCC quality systems and conformities at QAAssistance@atcc.org.

ATCC retains all right, title and interest in the ATCC trademark and trade-name, ATCC®, PRECEPTROL®, UNIPLUS®, Authenticult™, YOUR DISCOVERIES BEGIN WITH US®, EXPRESS-CHECK™, YOUR GLOBAL BIORESOURCE CENTER™, ATCC CULTURES™, ATCC BIOPRODUCTS™, ATCC SPECIAL COLLECTIONS™, ATCC SERVICES™, ATCC Genuine Cultures®, ATCC Licensed Derivative®, BioEscrow™, ATCC Reference Material™, ATCC Fungal Allergen Standard™, ATCC Proficiency Standard™, ATCC Standard Reference Material™, and any and all ATCC Catalog Marks (example ATCC® CRL-1740™) or ATCC specific designations of ATCC Materials sold by ATCC, or other trademarks registered or owned by the ATCC. The ATCC trademark, the ATCC trade-name, or the ATCC Catalog numbers cannot be used in any way in connection with any offering, marketing, promotion, or sale without ATCC's prior written agreement.