Andalusian Stem Cell Bank

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/bancoandaluzdecelulasmadre

Since its creation in November 2003, the Andalusian Stem Cell Bank has been increasing its research activity and growing at the same rate as the advances in stem cell research in national and international arenas.

The Andalusian Stem Cell Bank was the first structure established in Spain specifically designed for the storage, distribution and characterization of embryonic stem cells. Having available cell lines produced under GMP standards was one of the most persistent requests of the scientific community in the field of cell therapy. In order to address this issues, the Bank was formed as an organization in charge of the production, storage, custody and management of the different cell lines coming from nonviable pre-embryos after in vitro fertilization or from other sources of stem cells.
Its pioneering character in the field of cell research in Spain merited its status as the Central Node of the Spanish National Bank of Cell Lines, a role that it has been played since 2004.

The activity of the bank is being reinforced by one of the strategic goals of the Ministry of Health of the Andalusian Regional Government: the commitment to strengthen, in the heart of the Andalusian Public Health System, the generation of knowledge, in particular, to promote biomedical research of competitive standards. As a consequence of the collaborative agreement between the Ministry of Health of the Andalusian Regional Government and the University of Granada, the Andalusian Public Health System and the close collaboration of the Carlos III Institute of Health, the Andalusian Stem Cell Bank has been worked on several research projects. It has also played a key role to promote agreements of collaboration with different institutions with the purpose of improving and promoting a network of excellence in terms of scientific and techinical communication.




The Andalusian Stem Cell Bank is setting new challenges it considers essential to develop in a short period of time to position itself as a powerful structure at the service of research within the field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine, and maintain its prestige and reputation among the scientific community. Some of the initiatives that it will implement with a view to the future are:

•Expanding the offer of the technological platform of human embryonic cell lines (hESC) and adult cell lines reprogrammed to behave as embryonic stem cells (iPS) for biomedical research in Spain.
•Implementing improvements in the specific maintenance and differentiation processes of hESC and iPS to blood and mesenchymal lines by means of intrinsic determining factors and extrinsic agents.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• HEALTH
• RESEARCH
• ANDALUSIA
• SPAIN
• SOUTH
• INVESTIGATION
• GRANADA