ATCC Special Collections represent collaborations with top research institutions around the world to provide valuable research tools to the scientific community. Each collection has a distinct emphasis in the type of materials it offers:

• A focus on a single field or application
• A wide spectrum of materials from one source
• Unique or exclusive availability

Institutions that participate in the formation of Special Collections benefit from ATCC's capabilities in customizing storage and distribution services for their valuable materials.

The most recent Special Collection to be established is the ATCC Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cell Bank, which offers lymphoma investigators a centralized resource of ATCC-authenticated, well-characterized cell lines for mantle cell lymphoma research. The cell bank resulted from a contract awarded to ATCC by the Lymphoma Research Foundation. 

Another recent Special Collection to be established at ATCC is the National Park Service Collection, which consists of microbes isolated from National Parks in the United States.

The materials in the Johns Hopkins Special Collection were developed by Johns Hopkins University faculty.

ATCC will be acquiring and authenticating Myxomycetes, Dictyostelids, and Protostelids ("slime molds") as part of the Eumycetozoan Project, a grant funded by the National Science Foundation.

The Yeast Genetic Research Resource Center manages approximately 25,000 genetically defined yeast strains, 400 yeast vectors, 2000 yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs), and 20 yeast genomic and cDNA libraries.

The David L. Nanney/Ellen M. Simon Collection, which is supported by an endowment from Dr. Simon, is a set of approximately 250 Tetrahymena strains that is incorporated into the Protistology Collection.

The ATCC Stem Cell Center distributes more than seventy human and mouse embryonic stem cell lines, embryonal carcinoma lines, qualified mouse and human feeder cells as well as other stem cell qualified reagents.

The National Institutes of Health has initiated the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) with the mission of generating resources enabling comprehensive characterization of the human microbiota and analysis of its role in human health and disease.