Coriell California Continues iPS Cell Momentum

09/2014

Momentum continues to build for Coriell Institute's newly established West Coast biobanking facility.

Officially launched in late spring, the satellite location is an offshoot of the Institute's gold-standard stem cell and biobanking programs and was created to accommodate a $10M induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell research grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a foremost proponent of novel stem cell study.

Already the world's leading source for iPS cell lines – which serve as a powerful tool for researchers studying disease development and targeting drug therapies – Coriell is positioned to exponentially expand its collection by aligning with CIRM and has reinforced a foothold in this sophisticated scientific domain.

"We're incredibly encouraged by the amount of progress that's already been made in such a short period of time," says Matthew Self, manager of the Coriell California iPS cell biorepository.

Self leads a nimble group of staff at the West Coast location, situated in 1,000 square feet of space at the Buck Institute in Novato, CA, and has been processing samples from subjects enrolled at several different California-based research and academic centers, including Stanford University and UCLA. Through the Coriell California biorepository, the Institute will employ its online catalog to oversee the international distribution of the cell lines once they are publicly available for research.

"Induced pluripotent stem cell technology is empowering scientists working to uncover the kinds of insights that will tip the scale in the fight against complex human disease," says Dr. Christman. "Assembling this resource of highly viable research assets is imperative to that end."

The goal of the initiative is to bank samples from 3,000 individuals and create 9,000 well-characterized iPS cell lines. Specimen will be drawn from a range of both healthy and diseased donors, representing conditions such as liver disease, Alzheimer's disease, and neurodevelopmental disabilities.


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