PerPETuate, Inc - Elizabethtown, PA

Cell Culturing and DNA Preservation
DNA preservation begins with the collection of tissue samples from your pet by a veterinarian. Skin biopsies are used to collect tissue samples. Your pet will feel no pain as the procedure is done under local or general anesthesia. These tissue samples are shipped on ice gel packs by overnight courier to the laboratory in Pennsylvania where they are cultured. Culturing involves growing and isolating cells from the tissue samples until a cell line of several million fibroblast cells is established.

Once a cell line with your pet’s DNA is established, the cell line is frozen by a graduated process to extremely low temperatures then stored in liquid nitrogen in PERPETUATE'S Bio-Kennels.
Culturing and preserving DNA takes three to six weeks to complete. Cells can be preserved in liquid nitrogen for decades.

Genotyping
A genotype or ‘DNA signature’ will also be developed for your pet in most cases. With the DNA signature you can positively identify your pet, cells that are preserved from your pet and its future clones. Genotypes are produced from buccal samples collected by your veterinarian or from cells grown in the laboratory. Buccal samples are collected by swabbing the gums of your pet with a small brush. It takes about two months to complete a DNA signature.

DNA can be preserved from animals after their death. In some cases we were able to develop cell lines from deceased pets up to six days after their death. In other cases we have failed to preserve DNA from pets that had been dead for only one day.

The longer it takes to collect the tissue sample and start laboratory processing, the less chance for a success. Conversely the sooner that tissue is collected and processed the greater the chance for establishing a viable cell line.

The best way to preserve viable DNA from your pet is to collect and process tissue while the animal is alive!