Unit of competency

Modification History

Application

This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge to prepare, maintain and preserve cells and cell lines for a variety of applications, such as large scale culture, production of monoclonal antibodies, production of viral vaccines and amniocentesis studies. Personnel are required to optimise equipment set-up, media and growth techniques. They are required to detect and investigate contamination and take preventative and/or corrective actions under supervision.

This unit applies to laboratory technicians and technical officers working in laboratories in the biomedical, environmental, biotechnology and education industry sectors.

No licensing or certification requirements exist at the time of publication. However, regulations and/or external accreditation requirements for laboratory operations exist, so local requirements should be checked. Relevant legislation, industry standards and codes of practice within Australia must also be applied.

Pre-requisite Unit

Competency Field

Testing

Elements and Performance Criteria

Foundation Skills

This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance.

Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.

Unit Mapping Information

Equivalent to MSL975013 Perform tissue and cell culture techniques, Release 1.

Links

Training Package Companion Volumes - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=5c63a03b-4a6b-4ae5-9560-1e3c5f462baa

Assessment requirements

Modification History

Performance Evidence

There must be evidence the candidate has completed the tasks outlined in the elements and performance criteria of this unit, and:

• safely prepared and maintained 3 different cell cultures to preserve cells and cell lines that are fit for purpose without contaminating the original sample, including:

• passaging cell cultures by subculturing
• preserving cell lines by freezing and cryopreservation

• confirmed the identity of the cell lines and identified abnormalities/contamination if present
• maintained accurate, traceable records of cell lines and tissues and logs of procedures and work completed.

Knowledge Evidence

There must be evidence the candidate has knowledge of:

• terminology, including cell lines, growth media, primary culture, passaging, passage number, subculture, anchorage dependent cells, suspension culture, monolayer, confluent, cell line, cell strain, contact inhibition, diploid and viability
• cell biology, including structure, physiology, function, physiological cell growth requirements, nutrient requirements, respiration, temperature and growth cycle
• general purpose of cell lines
• normal and abnormal cell morphology
• critical components of the cell environment and their effects on cell growth, including pH, temperature, buffering, atmosphere, osmotic pressure, osmolarity and viscosity
• types of tissue/cells used as source material
• techniques for characterising a cell line
• selection criteria for media, materials and equipment, including:

• costs
• ease of cleaning or sterilisation
• maintenance of cell growth

• the differences between finite and continuous cell lines
• characteristics of cell culture media and substrates
• nature of substrates including solid, semi-solid, gel or sponge, glass, disposable plastics and three-dimensional matrices
• chemical treatment techniques for pre-treating substrates relevant to the job role
• role of common ingredients in media including salts, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, growth factors, serum and antimicrobial
• contaminants, including endotoxins, bacteria, yeast, fungi and mycoplasma
• typical requirements, problems and procedures associated with the production of specific cell lines relevant to the job role
• tissue culture and continuous culture systems
• methods to prepare primary cultures
• principles and purpose of techniques implemented
• methods to monitor growth of tissue and cell lines
• awareness of environmental sustainability issues as they relate to the work task
• legal, ethical and work health and safety (WHS) requirements specific to the work task including traceability, confidentiality and security requirements of all client information, and laboratory data and records.

Assessment Conditions

Skills must have been demonstrated in the workplace or in a simulated environment that reflects workplace conditions and contingencies. The following conditions must be met for this unit:

• use of suitable facilities, equipment and resources, including:

• laboratory equipped with appropriate tissue culture equipment and facilities, test equipment, instruments, standards and reagents
• workplace procedures and standard methods, test results and records.

Assessors must satisfy the NVR/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.

Links

Training Package Companion Volumes - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=5c63a03b-4a6b-4ae5-9560-1e3c5f462baa