I have very precious cells (mouse embryonic stem cells) that have been contaminated with bacteria recently. The regular medium I use contains pen/strep, but bacteria is still growing. Is there a way to rescue the cells with minimal cell death?
The best way to avoid contamination is - improve your handling techniques . Bacteria will easily become resistant to antibiotics so keep on increasing your antibiotic concentration is not recommended. So better you can preserve enough cells under cryo conditions.
Hit them hard with emergency antibiotics. I have yet to see a bacteria that would not drop dead instantly when confronted with something like vancomycin + cefotaxime, 30 mg/L each. Reserve them for emergencies with precious cell lines though.
Hello Raed,
Have you tried experimentally the suggestion by Mr. John ?
I would like to know your results after the use of 30ug/l of vancomycin+cefotaxime .
Thanks .
Thank you all for your suggestions. I have decided to do the CRISPR experiment again, as I am worried that the contamination will be dormant for some time and reappear after I stop the antibiotics.
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