There was strong support for both in vitro and in vivo methods. Reported limitations to mouse ascites production included the problem of mouse protein contamination and restrictions on the number of times that the mouse could be tapped. For the in vitro methods, limitations included the high cost and time requirements. Although it works, the technology is not quite at the point of cost-effectiveness. The cells need to be babied in the hollow fiber system.
Weekends are a problem.
They need to get away from the idea that ascites is easier than cell culture. Once they get used to it, they will be fine. The Cell Culture Center in Minneapolis is an NIH-supported facility that is available to most academic labs. This price is below the core lab average yet the facility is not used to its fullest capacity. Two main reasons for this were given.