Scottish National Reference Laboratory (NRL)

Marine Scotland Science (MSS) in Aberdeen is classified as the Scottish National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for fish, mollusc and crustacean diseases within the European Union.

As is required of an NRL, MSS has an extensive range of antibodies, reagents, molecular primers and probes used in the confirmation and characterisation of aquatic pathogens.

MSS participates in mandatory proficiency tests organised by the European Union Reference Laboratories (EURL) to ensure that high technical quality standards are met and maintained. Key functions and resources include:

• maintaining equipment, reagents and expertise required of an EU NRL (Regulation [EC] no 882/2004 of the European parliament)
• using standard diagnostic laboratory methods accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 standard
• an extensive collection of viral and microbial isolates dating back to the 1970s, as well as an extensive pathology archive
• supplying reference material & reagents to other NRLs, universities and commercial laboratories as appropriate

EU Reference Laboratories

• EURL for fish diseases - National Veterinary Institute DTU in Denmark
• EURL for mollusc diseases - Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea)
• EURL for crustacean diseases - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Weymouth

See also: OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals 2017