Ten commandments for preventing contamination of primary cell cultures.

Procedures for preventing contamination in primary cell cultures must be carefully defined and strictly followed in order to obtain healthy cells. Protocols have been developed and refined in our laboratory for establishing primary cultures of muscle and fat stem cells without contamination from a variety of animals. Contamination of cell cultures is not only frustrating, but is also very expensive both in time and loss of materials. Through the consistent use of proper aseptic techniques, most instances of contamination may be avoided. We suggest that the basic principles detailed here will find wide applicability in the culturing of primary cells without contamination from many different types of animals and tissues.