Commission regulation (EC) No 865/2006Show full title

ANNEX XI Types of biological samples referred to in Article 18 and their use

Type of sample	Typical size of sample	Use of sample
Blood, liquid	Drops or 5 ml of whole blood in a tube with anticoagulant; may deteriorate in 36 hours	Haematology and standard biochemical tests to diagnose disease; taxonomic research; biomedical research
Blood, dry (smear)	A drop of blood spread on a microscope slide, usually fixed with chemical fixative	Blood counts and screening for disease parasites
Blood, clotted (serum)	5 ml of blood in tube with or without a blood clot	Serology and detection of antibodies for evidence of disease; biomedical research
Tissues, fixed	5 mm3 pieces of tissues in a fixative	Histology and electron microscopy to detect signs of disease; taxonomic research; biomedical research
Tissues, fresh (excluding ova, sperm and embryos)	5 mm3 pieces of tissues, sometimes frozen	Microbiology and toxicology to detect organisms and poisons; taxonomic research; biomedical research
Swabs	Tiny pieces of tissue in a tube on a swab	Growing bacteria, fungi, etc. to diagnose disease
Hair, skin, feathers, scales	Small, sometimes tiny pieces of skin surface in a tube (up to 10 ml in volume) with or without fixative	Genetic and forensic tests and detection of parasites and pathogens and other tests
Cell lines and tissue cultures	No limitation of sample size	Cell lines are artificial products cultured either as primary or continuous cell lines that are used extensively in testing the production of vaccines or other medical products and taxonomic research (e.g. chromosome studies and extraction of DNA)
DNA	Small amounts of blood (up to 5 ml), hair, feather follicle, muscle and organ tissue (e.g. liver, heart, etc.), purified DNA, etc.	Sex determination; identification; forensic investigations; taxonomic research; biomedical research
Secretions, (saliva, venom, milk)	1-5 ml in vials	Phylogenetic research, production of anti-venom, biomedical research