DGRC News

2023/08/28 - Announcing the Lucy F. Cherbas Lecture Series

Please join the DGRC and guest lecturer Professor Amanda Simcox on September 19th for the first virtual lecture and symposium to honor Dr. Lucy Cherbas ' contributions to cell culture research and highlight recent advances and promote the use of Drosoph ila cell cultures in addressing biological questions.

2022/10/11 - In memoriam Dr. Lucy Cherbas, Senior Scientist Emerita

We mourn the loss of Dr. Lucy Cherbas (Senior Scientist Emerita). A tour de force in both science and life. Drosophila cell culture would not be where it is today without her contributions.

2022/05/09 - Reported PayPal issues

Checkout via PayPal is currently failing. We are investigating the problem and will post a news item when service is restored.

2021/03/12 - The DGRC is Recruiting

If you are graduating soon and looking for a Research Associate position, please follow this link for more information and to apply.

2020/11/26 -

As of November 1, 2020,  there will be NO fee increase for all reagents. We are grateful for the support of the community.

2020/03/19 - Sigma M3 Replacement

Due to the shortage in US supply of Shields and Sang M3 media (Sigma), we have tested several Drosophila cell lines using insect cell culture media from various suppliers. In general, when adapting to new media, we have observed that cells fare better when they are gradually adapted to their new media. Please get in touch with us for recommendations when dealing with specific cell lines.

2019/11/04 - Holiday Shipping Schedule

The DGRC will stop shipments of all products according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 25 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Normal shipping will resume December 2, and continue for two weeks. The last day for shipments by US post will be Friday, December 13 and the last shipping day for Fed Ex (domestic and international) is Monday, December 16. Normal shipping will resume January 2, 2020.

The ability to place orders online will still be available throughout the holidays.

2019/08/05 - PayPal Checkout Restored

PayPal service was restored over the weekend. If you had trouble ordering on Friday, please try again and let us know if you have any trouble.

2019/08/02 - PayPal Guest Checkout Issues

On August 2nd, PayPal began having issues with their checkout system, particularly when checking out as a guest. PayPal reports they are working on the issue and hope to have it resolved this weekend. We apologize for the inconvenience and will post a follow up news item when we confirm that service has been restored.

2019/04/17 - We have a winner!

Congratulations to Anzer Khan from the O’Connell lab. Anzer was chosen from all the #Dros19 DGRC booth entries as the winner of a free Drosophila cell line (or the equivalent amount in cDNAs). It pays to stop by and say “hi” at the fly meetings!

2019/01/11 - DGRC Server Maintenance

The DGRC will be down for server maintenance on Sunday, January 13th beginning at 10 AM EDT. The maintenance is expected to take 6-8 hours.

2018/11/07 - Holiday Shipping Schedule

The DGRC will stop shipments of cells, clones, and vectors according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 19 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Normal shipping will resume November 26, and continue for three weeks. We will not ship from December 15 through January 1. Normal shipping will resume January 2, 2019.

The ability to place orders online will still be available throughout the holidays.

2018/10/11 - Information Regarding DGRC Fly Extract

Fly extract (FEX) is an essential component of medium for some imaginal disc lines and for ovarian cell lines. On October 1st, the DGRC began distributing FEX derived from young Oregon-R-modENCODE adult flies (RRID:BDSC_25211). We sell it in tubes of 2.5 ml (enough for 100 ml of medium for CME Cl.8+) and tubes of 10 ml (enough for 100 ml of medium for OSS or fGS/OSS). The price is $5.50/ml. In addition, there is a flat fee for packaging and dry ice ($15.00/shipment) and the Fedex shipping charge to your location.

Fly extract must be shipped on dry ice. If we do not ordinarily send dry ice shipments to your country, your order for fly extract will be blocked, you will be asked to e-mail us to see whether we can work out a means of sending a dry ice shipment to you.

Storage requirements: We store fly extract at -20°C, where it is good for at least a year. We have thawed and re-frozen tubes of extract at least once with no obvious loss of quality.

2018/10/01 - October 1st Price Increases

As of April 15th, 2018, the DGRC received notification of its NIH award renewal for the next five years. The award budget remained flat with no increase and fortunately, no reduction. Due to both inflationary factors and the increase in personnel costs, we need to raise prices on most items in the range of 10-15% to cover our operation costs. The last price increase took place in 2013. For example, the cost of a single DNA clone now changes from $38 to $43. In comparison, a single DNA clone from Addgene is priced at $65 (another reason to send your DNA clones to the DGRC). We hope this increase does not put an undue burden on individual laboratories. We thank you for your support and will continue to serve the Drosophila community in the most efficient manner.

2018/04/04 - The DGRC is Hiring

The DGRC is searching for a new Associate Director of Cell Resources and Development. The work of DGRC scientists is wide ranging and includes management of collection contents (accessions, quality control), information management (biocuration, database construction and use, website development), scientific communication (user support, grant proposals and reporting, conference presentations, position papers, manuscripts), and business operations (personnel, user accounts, billing, financial recordkeeping and reporting).

The new DGRC Assistant Scientist will participate in all aspects of DGRC operations and eventually assume a primary leadership role in the organization. Candidates should have extensive knowledge of Drosophila tissue culture, Drosophila genetics, excellent communication skills, proven grantsmanship, well-developed organizational abilities, interest in a long-term position, and a keen desire to support the Drosophila research community.

More information and instructions for applying are available at https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/5760

2017/12/06 - The DGRC is Hiring

The DGRC is searching for a new Associate Director of Cell Resources and Development. The work of DGRC scientists is wide ranging and includes management of collection contents (accessions, quality control), information management (biocuration, database construction and use, website development), scientific communication (user support, grant proposals and reporting, conference presentations, position papers, manuscripts), and business operations (personnel, user accounts, billing, financial recordkeeping and reporting).

The new DGRC Assistant Scientist will participate in all aspects of DGRC operations and eventually assume a primary leadership role in the organization. Candidates should have extensive knowledge of Drosophila tissue culture, Drosophila genetics, excellent communication skills, proven grantsmanship, well-developed organizational abilities, interest in a long-term position, and a keen desire to support the Drosophila research community.

More information and instructions for applying are available at https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/4983.

2017/11/02 - Holiday Shipping

The DGRC will stop shipments of cells, clones, and vectors according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 20 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Normal shipping will resume November 27, and continue for 2 weeks. We will not ship from December 15 through January 2. Normal shipping will resume January 3, 2018.

The ability to place orders online will still be available throughout the holidays.

2017/10/04 - Mitsubishi Cell Lines No Longer Require MTA

The Mitsubishi Corporation and Dr. Ryu Ueda have recently graciously rescinded the requirement for an MTA or compliance agreement for the 68 lines they donated to DGRC for distribution. We would like to thank them for their generous contribution to the Drosophila community.

2017/09/15 - DGRC Fall 2017 Newsletter

September Newsletter: If you missed our September 2017 newsletter, you can read it here.

2017/04/13 - DGRC Spring 2017 Newsletter

March Newsletter: If you missed receiving our March 2017 newsletter, you can view it online.

2016/11/07 - DGRC Fall 2016 Newsletter

The DGRC has begun releasing a quarterly newsletter to update our community on new materials and services that we are able to offer. The Fall 2016 Newsletter is now available. The highlights of each newsletter are sent to our customers via email. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any point by following the link at the bottom of the email message.

2016/11/06 - S2 Renamed to S2-DGRC

To reduce confusion in the literature about mutliple isolates of the original Schneider's line 2, we have renamed the cell line "S2" as "\ S2-DGRC". For more information see our summary of S2 Isolates in the DGRC Collection.

2016/11/01 - Holiday Shipping

The DGRC will stop all shipments according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 21 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Shipping will resume November 28, and continue through last shipments before the New Year on December 12. Normal shipping will resume January 4, 2017.

2016/06/30 - Retirement of Peter and Lucy

Dear Drosophila Community,


The DGRC would like to announce the retirement of Drs. Peter and Lucy Cherbas from the DGRC. As you know the DGRC has become an integral part of the Drosophila community and this would not have occurred without the Cherbas’ vision, dedication, and hard work. Even though Peter and Lucy are giving up their official titles, they will both continue to assist and advise the new leadership of the DGRC. With that said, Andrew Zelhof PhD (Biology Department, Indiana University) has been appointed the new Director of the DGRC. Please join us in thanking Peter and Lucy for their relentless efforts to ensure the DGRC’s success and in welcoming Andrew. We look forward to continuing working with you to distribute and generate reagents for the Drosophila community.


Sincerely,
The DGRC Advisory Board

2016/06/06 - Credit Card payments are now processed through PayPal

To comply with changes in Indiana University Treasury policy, the DGRC is now required to process all credit card payments through PayPal. At the PayPal payment screen, you may select "Pay With Debit or Credit Card" if you do not want to create a PayPal account. If you have problems checking out with PayPal, please contact us at dgrc@cgb.indiana.edu.

2015/11/24 - Tools for phiC31 integrase-mediated replacement in Drosophila cell lines

The DGRC is pleased to offer a series of cell lines carrying single phiC31 docking sites for targeted replacement, along with a series of plasmids designed for use with these lines. The materials are described in a pair of papers to be published in the December 1, 2015 issue of Genetics, one from Amanda Simcox's lab and one from the DGRC. The 2 lines from the Simcox lab were made from docking-site flies generated by Jack Bateman's group. The 16 lines from the DGRC group were made by insertion of docking sites into two pre-existing well-characterized lines, Kc167 and Sg4. The two approaches have complementary advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed in the papers. For convenience, we have included in the Notes section of the webpage for each docking site line a URL for the pre-publication e-copy of the relevant paper.

2015/11/15 - Holiday Shipping

The DGRC will stop shipments of cells, clones, and vectors according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 23 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Normal shipping will resume November 30, and continue for 2 weeks.

We will not ship from December 15 through January 3. Normal shipping will resume January 4, 2016.

2015/01/15 - Change in price for fly extract

After distributing fly extract for approximately 18 months, we have re-evaluated our labor costs for making the extract, and found it necessary to adjust our price. Effective immediately, the price for fly extract is increased from $3/ml to $5/ml to reflect our actual cost for providing this service.

2014/11/24 - Credit Card Outage

(Update: credit card processing was restored on the morning of Nov 26th. We apologize for the inconvenience) The DGRC is currently unable to accept credit card payments because of a technical issue. We are working with Indiana University Treasury to restore service as soon as possible. If you would like to be notified by email when the problem is resolved, contact us at dgrc@cgb.indiana.edu.

2014/11/05 - Holiday Shipping

The DGRC will stop shipments of cells and vectors according to the following schedule:

On Monday, November 24 we will ship only to laboratories outside the United States, and there will be no shipments for the rest of that week. Normal shipping will resume December 1, and continue for 2 weeks.

We will not ship from December 15 through January 4. Normal shipping will resume January 5, 2015.

2014/04/24 - modENCODE Data

We are incorporating a variety of cell line data from modENCODE into the DGRC website. Data for sex and for copy number variation are now available, and can be accessed through links on the corresponding cell line pages.

2013/11/15 - Holiday Shipping

Because of disruptions in mail and Fedex service, no DGRC orders will be shipped between December 16 and January 5. For all cell line orders and dry ice vector orders that we ship between December 9 and December 13, we will contact the recipient to confirm that there will be someone to receive the package.

2013/10/13 - The DGRC has been funded!

We're pleased to report that the NIH has renewed the DGRC's funding until 2018. It is obvious that our users support played a major role in this decision and we will continue to work to deserve your support.

2013/10/12 - Refund Policy

Please read the DGRC's refund policy.

2013/08/15 - New Rates

Effective immediately the DGRC is raising prices.


The new prices will be:

Vector / Clone $38
Cell line $230

The DGRC's prices have remained constant for 8 years. During that time NIH and NSF have provided generous support to the DGRC. In order to ensure continuation of that support we now need to move toward a model in which user fees pay a larger portion of our expenses.

We understand that higher prices are passed on from the DGRC's grant to individual research grants and we regret any untoward impact that our price increase may have. Nonetheless we hope that you will understand the necessity.


Citing the DGRC

When publishing experiments using materials obtained from the DGRC please follow the citation guidelines on the material's stock page, including citing the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center, supported by NIH grant 2P40OD010949, in the acknowledgments. Your cooperation helps us when we need to renew our grant as well as the researchers that donate materials to the DGRC.