Though it has been only a few months since the National Institutes of Health announced the University of Wisconsin would house the nation's first stem-cell bank, UW's WiCell Research Institute already has half of the federally approved stem-cell lines signed on to be part of the bank.
In early October, the NIH selected WiCell for the National Stem Cell Bank and awarded WiCell $16 million in NIH funding for the next four years to house and maintain the bank.
"This is a great opportunity for Wisconsin and the fact that we already have half of the lines signed up in less than two months is pretty amazing," Andy Cohn, a spokesperson for WiCell, said. "What this is also about is providing researchers detailed information on what the stem-cell lines are and providing those lines."
In the past, federally funded researchers could buy the cells for about $5,000, but under the provisions of the NSCB, they can now purchase the same cells for around $500 as part of the "distribution infrastructure" that is being created at the NSCB.
WiCell has also been charged with the tasks of creating an advisory board, formulating a distribution scheme, expanding and testing quality-control protocols and evaluating different culture methods to see which are best to work with for the bank.
"All of these things are on schedule and moving forward," Cohn said. "This is a really good first step, and we are going to make the very best of what we have available."
In addition to reducing their price, the bank will ensure stem-cell lines are properly maintained and provide classes for researchers on the appropriate handling of the cells.
James Thomson, a UW faculty member and scientific director of WiCell, led a research group in 1998 that was the first in the country to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Shortly after Thomson isolated the cells, WiCell began.
President George W. Bush instituted a ban in 2001 on the use of federal funding to establish new human embryonic stem-cell lines; however, the 22 existing lines created before the ban were maintained using federal dollars.
Cohn said there are 11 remaining stem-cell-line holders who have not signed on to join the NSCB, but one in Athens, Ga., called BresaGen, has said definitively it will not contribute its stem cells to the bank.
"Because one company who doesn't want to distribute their lines through us — they don't think it's in their best business interest to have them distributed by us — I don't think that's a reflection on us," Cohn said. "That's their business decision."
But Rik Derynck, co-director of the University of California-San Francisco Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology — which holds two of the 11 federally approved stem-cell lines that have not yet been added to the bank — said there is no animosity involved in its delay to deposit its lines into the national bank.
"So far, we just haven't seen the need to put the cells in the National Stem Cell Bank," Derynck, who is also a professor of cell and tissue biology at UCSF, said. "Another thing is that I don't think we have really been asked to put them in there."
The UCSF institute also needs more information on quality-control standards and distribution methods at WiCell and additional communication with WiCell about the bank, Derynck said.
Cohn said that discussions are in the works with the remaining stem-cell holders and added he hopes they will join the NSCB.
"It isn't fair or reasonable to expect them to make that decision in two months," Cohn said. "This just was announced and we are in negotiations with all of them."
