MRC and Wellcome Trust to create national stem cell resource

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust will be launching a new national stem cell resource that aims to improve the standard of resources available to UK researchers.

Around 12.75 million pounds will be invested in creating a catalogue of high-quality adult stem cells known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, allowing scientists to further their studies into how these genes affect health and diseases.

The Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Initiative (HIPSCI) will generate iPS cells from healthy volunteers and patient groups, while the cell collection project will be led by King's College London and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

It is hoped that more than 1,000 iPS cell lines will be made available from healthy people and those with disease, thanks to technology derived from the work of Professor Sir John Gurdon and Nobel Prize winner Professor Shinya Yamanaka.

Professor Sir John Savill, chief executive of the MRC, said: "We hope to propel UK researchers to the forefront of this rapidly evolving field and provide an invaluable stock of high-quality cell lines for use by academia and industry alike."

Earlier this week, the MRC was involved in the presentation of 39 million pounds of Biomedical Catalyst funding to healthcare research projects across the UK.