The Center for Genome Innovation, working with the Chromosome Core, has added new services to assist UConn faculty in meeting the new NIH Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources requirements.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research (OER) has revised grant application requirements effective January 2016 as part of the program to “Enhance Rigor and Reproducibility.” The Program includes four components the NIH has considered important for enhancing rigor and transparency, one of which is “Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources”. All new grant applications and grants implemented from 2016 onward must include a description of the method(s) used to verify cell lines and other key biological and chemical resources.
To summarize the full description, the NIH requires that resources used to conduct NIH funded research must be authenticated on a regular basis. These resources include all cell lines and other biologics, including, but not limited to, primary cell lines, established cell lines and those obtained from another source regardless of the source (company with their own sample authentication, non-NIH funded material source, etc). Specifically, “If key resources have been purchased or obtained from an outside source that provided data on prior authentication, the investigator is still expected to provide their own authentication plans for these key resources.” Moreover, the authentication requirement applies to cell lines and biologics that may differ from laboratory to laboratory or may differ over time (e.g. in culture).
The NIH has not set a standard for this authentication; rather, the scientific community is empowered to provide this standard. However, the NIH has provided a recommendation that cell lines may be authenticated by chromosomal analysis and/or short tandem repeat (STR) profiling.
The following methods are available for sample testing in the CGI, depending upon your needs:
STR typing using the GlobalFiler PCR system targeting 24 loci
Sanger sequencing
Karyotyping via G-banding (human only)
Cytoscan HD (molecular karyotyping) (human only)
Additional applications, such as RAD-seq, RNA-seq, etc are also available through the CGI. Please visit cgi.uconn.edu for more information, or contact Rachel O’Neill (rachel.oneill@uconn.edu) or Bo Reese (bo.reese@uconn.edu). Please contact Judy Brown for karyotyping assays (judy.brown@uconn.edu)
For more information, contact: Bo Reese at bo.reese@uconn.edu