The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) is a non-profit biological resource center (Cypess 2003) with a mission to acquire, authenticate, preserve, develop, standardize, and distribute biological materials and information for the advancement and application of scientific knowledge. The ATCC supports scientific advancements in academic, government, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural, and industrial sectors globally with 264industry-standard products, services, and solutions. Its services and custom solutions include cell and microbial culturing and authentication, development and production of controls and derivatives, proficiency testing, and biomaterial deposit services (Simione and Cypess 2012). The ATCC is a leader in providing innovative customer-focused solutions and standards through its research and development program.

As a BRC and with nearly 100 years of continuous operation, the ATCC plays a critical role in the conservation of biodiversity and biological information for model organisms, type strains, and many other biological materials. The ATCC’s rigorously authenticated biomaterials and standards are produced using methods designed to minimize passage number and genetic mutation, thus conserving the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of the material. In addition to its long history of providing quality biomaterials and reliable physical standards, the ATCC intends to offer highly authenticated reference-grade whole genome sequence in support of future scientific and technological innovations.