Cell culture protocols are meant to ensure that culture procedures are carried out to the required standards. This is not only meant to prevent the contamination of the cells, but to also ensure that the researchers themselves are protected from any form of contamination.
Moreover, the nature of the work is expected to conform to the appropriate ethical guidelines. Therefore, before anything else, it is essential to ensure that the entire procedure conforms with both medical-ethical and animal- experiment guidelines. This is because going against such legislation and guidelines can result in heavy penalties and even shutting down of the laboratory.
Before any work starts, carry out the following procedure:
- Ensure that the working are is sanitized (using 70 percent ethanol)
- Always use a new pair of gloves. If a pair of gloves has to be used for another cell culture procedure, they should be sanitized using 70 percent ethanol and allowed to air dry.
- Any equipment that had been taken out of the cabinet should also be sanitized to prevent any contamination
- Such equipment as pipette, glass jars and plastics to be used for the procedure should be autoclaved
Although there are a wide range of culture media for cells, it is important to keep in mind that cell cultures, and particularly primary cell cultures are easily prone to contamination in addition to the risk of containing undetected viruses. For this reason, all material should be handled as potentially infectious in order to avoid any infections.
In addition, for safety purposes, work on cell culture should be carried out in the appropriate laminar flow hood, where air is directed away from the researcher.