Creation of a “biobank”

Pluripotent stem cells (PSC) are now used to develop numerous medicines. However, in the scientific community there is a distinct lack of cells for the necessary trials, in terms of both quantity and quality. The creation of this European “biobank” (1) in Germany should help fill this gap, providing readily available “ready-to-use” stem cells. Around 1000 types of cell lines (2) could be used in this way to produce about a hundred million cells over the next three years.
(1) Association of the Fraunhofer Institute for biomedical techniques and 26 partners
(2) Cell lines are “immortal” cells that can be maintained in culture indefinitely.