First deposit in world's only stem cell bank
week with the deposit of the first human embryonic stem cell line
to be developed in Europe.
The bank, which will eventually contain stem cell lines derived from embryos, foetuses and adults, intends to provide scientists in Europe and the rest of the world with a source of high quality stem cell lines for research purposes.
It will provide a central storage location for a number of embryonic stem cell lines which have already been developed in other parts of the world. However their quality can vary and access to them is limited and expensive.
Professor Peter Braude, head of the pre-implantation genetic programme at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital in London said:"We are very grateful to our patients for rising to this need to help us develop a national resource for research and therapy."
"I'm sure these patients are comfortable in the knowledge that their contribution has not jeopardised their own fertility or genetic treatment in any way."
The stem cell which was used in the inauguration was grown by Dr Stephen Minger and Dr Susan Pickering from King's College London. The pair used a technique to harvest the stem cells from a human embryo donated by patients undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) therapy.
Dr Minger, head of the stem cell laboratory at King's College London, said: "The stem cells we are banking will be a crucial resources for future research into diseases such as type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."
"The bank accepts only high quality lines that will be of benefit to other scientists, and we are delighted our cells are among the first to be accepted."
The procedure for depositing a new stem cell line in the bank or gaining access to existing lines will undergo a strict review and authorisation will be determined by a high level steering committee.
Such controls do not go far enough for many though, and a number of organisations and political parties in Europe have called for the practice of using stem cells derived from human embryos for research purposes to be banned.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic the Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics stated on their website:
"....obtaining stem cells from human embryos cannot be ethical because it necessarily involves destroying those embryos."
Despite the controversy surrounding stem cell research, it is clear that, with further lines waiting to be deposited, European researchers will have access to an unrivalled resource for stem cell research anywhere in the world.
