The Bank and Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research offers enormous potential for major advances in clinical therapy. Stem cells could be used to replace missing or damaged cells in important diseases, such as Diabetes and Parkinson's, and in the treatment of traumatic injury including paralysis.

The establishment of the UK Stem Cell Bank is an important step along the way to realising this potential and offers a vital resource to support the advance of research in this exciting area. At the same time we are developing important safeguards, by ensuring that cell lines which could ultimately provide the basis for clinical treatment are handled and stored under properly controlled conditions and undergo stringent safety and quality control testing.

By providing high quality starting materials to facilitate the development of stem cell therapy, and acting as a centralised resource for researchers, the UK Stem Cell Bank should reduce the demand for surplus embryos to be used for the development of stem cell lines.

Importantly, the establishment of the UK Stem Cell Bank should not be seen as an end in itself an end in itself. Instead it represents a vital element in the development of stem cell therapy as a whole. In a government review of stem cell research in the UK published in 2005, Sir John Pattison identified the Bank as a key element in the development of the UK initiative. Ultimately, success will benefit from a partnership approach and NIBSC and the UK Stem Cell Bank are committed to working closely with researchers, clinicians, funding bodies, industry and regulators, to bring this major opportunity for improving human health to fruition.

Cell banks are already in existence for many other types of cell line, but this MRC initiative, co-sponsored by BBSRC and with the full backing of the UK Government, is the world's first Stem Cell Bank of its type and reflects the UK's leading position in this exciting area of science.