Easy But Expensive Mycoplasma Detection Kit

Cultured cell lines, primary cells should be periodically tested for Mycoplasma contamination. Application of regular antibiotic does not combat Mycoplasma and often the infection does not lead to any visible consequence. However, infected cells can grow slower, this bacterium can affect vector production, transfection, transduction etc. Lonza provides this simple kit for Mycoplasma detection. We tested 42 different cell culture supernatants from various cell lines, primary cells, and iPS cells. Out of 42 samples, 25 were Mycoplasma negative (59%), 8 were positive (19%) and 9 were borderline (21%). The high number of borderline samples makes this assay less robust. In general, most borderline cells turn out to be negative upon re-testing.