Stem cell bank open for deposits

The world's first national stem cell bank is to open in the UK within one year. The UK's government-funded Medical Research Council (MRC) has awarded the contract for the stem cell bank to the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NISBC) in Hertfordshire. The NISBC is a public body responsible for monitoring and ensuring the quality of medicines and medical products.

The bank will store both adult and embryonic stem cell lines, and stem cells derived from fetal tissue. UK scientists will be able to apply to make a 'withdrawal' from the bank, and to use the stem cells in their research. Applications will be reviewed by a committee - whose members are soon to be announced - which will also develop regulations and a code of practice covering the use of the bank.

Dr Steven Inglis, director of the NISBC, said that access to the stem cell lines will be priced according to who use them - academic researchers would pay 'only a nominal fee', while private companies will 'pay the full economic cost'.

In related news, Suzi Leather, the chair of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has said that the HFEA will only grant research licences for work on embryonic stem cells if the scientists applying for them donate a sample of the stem cells they work with to the national stem cell bank. She said that if researchers were required to donate stem cells to the bank, it would 'ensure that the public benefits' and would 'maintain public confidence' in the scheme.