DDC Medical, a division of DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) and one of the world’s largest providers of STR DNA testing, supports the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Cell Line Authentication Initiative (CLAI), by offering free Human Cell Line Authentication and Mycoplasma Detection testing to the PCF’s grant recipients. This initiative is improving the quality and efficacy of prostate cancer research supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Howard Soule, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, outlines the program: “The Cell Line Authentication Initiative (CLAI) will raise awareness of the issue of cell line misidentification and mycoplasma contamination and its impact on the reproducibility of research. To accomplish this, funded research employing cell lines will be genetically analyzed and compared to the database from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), a non-profit organization devoted to characterizing biological samples, such as cell lines.”

The CLAI will build awareness of the potential consequences of not implementing ongoing, routine cell line authentication in laboratories that use cancer cell lines. All future research funded by the PCF will require ongoing adherence to these best practices.

Dr. Soule announced DDC Medical’s support of this initiative by offering free tests to the foundation’s grant recipients. Each grant recipient may receive 5 free Cell Line Authentication and Mycoplasma Detection kits. Dr. Baird, DDC’s Chief Science Officer shared, “We are very pleased to work with the PCF and support their mission. By ensuring that cell lines are authenticated, researchers have the tools to make ground breaking discoveries.”

About Dr. Baird:
Dr. Michael L. Baird, Chief Science Officer of DDC Medical, is considered one of the foremost experts in DNA testing. He is the first person to testify in a criminal DNA case in the US, and has testified in over 350 court cases involving DNA evidence. He is currently a member of the Relationship Testing Standards Committee of the AABB and responsible for developing standards for paternity testing. Dr. Baird has authored or coauthored over 50 peer reviewed scientific articles involving DNA identification analysis. He has served as an on-air consultant to NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and many of the world’s leading news outlets. Dr. Baird received his PhD in Genetics from the University of Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan in the department of human genetics and a Research Associate at Columbia University in the departments of human genetics and medicine. Dr. Baird served on the panel of the Office of Technology Assessment for the U.S. Congress studying the use of DNA for identification. He also presented informa