National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC)

All Darwin’s bacteria cultures are derived from strains held by the British National Culture Collection (NCTC). Founded in 1920, the NCTC is the longest-established collection of its type anywhere in the world and is operated by Public Health England. The bacteria that the collection houses is used globally, in total they have over 5000 strains including samples deposited by Sir Alexander Fleming himself!

Here at Darwin we are proud to support such a British institution by purchasing all starter cultures from the NCTC. These cultures are then sub-cultured before being applied to slopes and sold into schools and colleges across the UK. By sub-culturing we are able to supply quality bacteria at affordable prices. Our bacteria is a maximum of 4 passages away from the Culture Collection’s original. If you require fewer passages, we recommend you purchase directly from the NCTC.

To find further information relating to the specific strains of bacteria we supply there are links to the Culture Collection’s website on every bacteria product page. Information includes growth conditions and original source.