Scientists will meet today to give a green light to Britain's pioneering stem cell bank, allowing researchers to request embryonic stem cells for the first time.
The £9m bank, the first of its kind in the world, was set up in 2003 by the Medical Research Council and will ultimately hold every kind of stem cell created in Britain, with hundreds of others from countries such as the US and Australia. It will supply cells to researchers around the world.
Today's meeting at the government's National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire will confirm six kinds of embryonic cells are ready to be released, with others including adult and foetal cells to follow. Scientists around the country will be invited to apply for cells, which will be ready for dispatch from the end of the month.
Embryonic stem cells can grow into any tissue in the body. Researchers believe they hold hope of treating intractable medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, motor neurone disease and spinal cord injuries. But they can only be collected by cannibalising early-stage embryos - a procedure critics argue is immoral, even though the embryos are "spares" from IVF clinics that would otherwise be discarded.
The bank will allow scientists to work on cells without having to create them, a process only mastered by a few labs around the world. Until now, many researchers have had to beg cells from other labs or buy them at prices approaching £5,000. "This is a key moment for us. Being able to distribute cells will help push stem cell science on," said Charles Hunt, operations manager for the bank.
Researchers seeking to deposit or obtain cells are vetted by a steering committee chaired by Lord Naren Patel. So far, 40 varieties have been accepted, half from the UK, 17 from Harvard University and three from Australia.
Melinda Lako, a stem cell scientist at Newcastle University, said a wide variety of cells was crucial for researchers. "We're trying to turn stem cells into blood cells to treat leukaemia. We've tried with three different types of stem cell and only one works ... we have no idea why," she said. "We're supplying four or five labs ... it takes around four weeks of work to get one vial of cells for each of them. We just don't have the staff to do that."
Lord Winston, the fertility specialist at Hammersmith hospital, said the bank was a good idea but warned that a British legal requirement to bank every type of stem cell made in the country was off-putting to some couples considering donating surplus embryos. "They are not very keen on their cells being used by people whose work they don't know," he said.
The bank has received around 50 requests for stem cells, mostly from the UK, with others from Spain, Israel and Turkey.