Stem Cell Banks, Libraries and Registries
Stem cell research is an international, collaborative venture. Global research teams need access to cell lines that have been created in other parts of the world. As countries place restrictions on which cell lines may be used for research and under what conditions they may be used, it is increasingly important for scientists to have access to a registry of detailed information about existing cell lines. This information may have a scientific purpose: Is the cell line an appropriate tool for a particular research protocol in that it manifests, for example, a specific disease condition? Or, this information may have a gatekeeping or regulatory purpose: Was the cell line derived under conditions that meet regulatory standards such as with specific written consent?
Several countries, states, and institutions are beginning to house and catalogue stem cell lines to address these questions. These initiatives sometimes differ in both nature and purpose. Facilities that physically house samples are commonly known as banks. Perhaps the best known stem cell bank is the UK Stem Cell Bank (UKSCB), which houses research- and clinical-grade stem cell lines. Stem cell registries, on the other hand, do not store cell lines. Instead, registries catalogue stem cell lines and provide certain subsets of information about each line, including provenance, subculture, disease characteristics, derivation, ethics approval, storage facility and contact information. Stem cell libraries collect detailed scientific information about specific cell lines that comes from research on those lines. Information in libraries is constantly being added to and updated as research progresses and can be thought of as akin to information collected in the human genome project. For example, in June 2007, McMaster University announced that it would develop Canada’s first human embryonic stem cell (hES) library, envisioned as the first facility in the world to focus on understanding the role played by each gene in hES cells.
At present, there are five registries that catalog stem cell lines available for research and commercial purposes. These include the UKSCB’s registry, ISCF’s International Stem Cell Characterisation Initiative (ISCI) registry, the United States’ NIH Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry, and the European Union Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry (hESCreg). While the central focus of existing and proposed stem cell registries is on hES lines, the NIH has recently been directed to expand its registry to pluripotent cells. The UKSCB registry also catalogs adult stem cell lines. At present, proposed stem cell registries include a database by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for published stem cell lines and a national registry for Canadian hES lines from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).