In The Spotlight
Coriell's Dr. Michael Christman Receives Research Award (October 2016)
Coriell Institute Wins NIH Award (September 2016)Read More News
The Power of Stem Cell Science
The promise of stem cell research applies to understanding the progression of human disease and the ability to cure disease, reverse injury and better target therapies to optimize our health outcomes. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology has the ability to revolutionize the way human disease is studied. Creating iPS cell lines from various rare and common disease states, as well as from various populations, will open the doors for pre-clinical research studies.
Coriell Institute’s Stem Cell Biobank has developed standard operating procedures to expand and characterize human iPS cell lines submitted to the repository by researchers. This includes performance of in vitro and in vivo differentiation, quality control testing such as viability, mycoplasma screening, microsatellite-based identity matching to the parent cell line, and karyotype analysis. Coriell creates a distribution stock of each line on which it assesses pluripotency using a variety of cell and molecular techniques. The iPS cell lines available through the Coriell Biorepository catalog represent several disease states, including Huntington's Disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, and Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus. Each released iPS cell line is complemented with a complete Certificate of Analysis.
Recognized as one of the world's leading sources for research-grade iPS cell lines, Coriell has fortified that position by embarking on an ambitious initiative with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a foremost proponent of stem cell science. As part of a $10M research grant award by CIRM, Coriell launched a satellite biobank facility on the West Coast in early 2014 to store, manage and distribute biosamples from 3,000 individuals, that will then be used to create 9,000 well-characterized iPS cell lines. Coriell California processes samples from subjects enrolled at several different research and academic centers, including Stanford University and UCLA, and will oversee international distribution through the Coriell Biorepositories catalog.
In addition to the collections of human induced pluripotent stem cells, Coriell also banks mouse embryonic stem cells which were created to study transcription factors and their effects in the context of gene regulatory networks. Coriell began banking stem cells for research use in 2006, with funding from the state of New Jersey. Following the advent of new stem cell technologies, the Stem Cell Biobank at Coriell has been contracted by multiple agencies, including the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institute of Aging, as well as academic scientists to perform in-house human induced pluripotent stem cells and mouse embryonic stem cells generation and characterization. In addition, the Stem Cell Biobank has cryopreserved hematopoietic progenitor cells and mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood are available as custom service orders. Interested customers should email the Stem Cell Biobank for more information.
Coriell has established a series of state-of-the-art technology platforms and rigorous analyses for identification and characterization of iPS cells and mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines. All services are performed under stringent quality control procedures, and each characterized cell line is accompanied with a Certificate of Analysis upon completion.
Characterization Key Services
- Embryoid body formation and evaluation of lineage specific gene expression
- Surface antigen testing
Identification and Quality Control Key Services
- Karyotype analysis
- Microsatellite analysis for parental cell line identity matching
- Sterility testing
- Assessment of viability after cryopreservation
Michael Christman on “disease in a dish” technology:
“Screening drug candidates in a stem cell model will likely result in effective drugs getting into the market faster, since testing in the diseased environment has been proven even prior to the clinical trial. Significantly, this technology has the potential to offer medicines that are better targeted for individual patients. Finally, it also promises to reduce the cost burden of research and development, and in turn, the cost to patients for their prescription drugs.”
What Are Stem Cells?
A cell is the smallest unit of living matter and the functional basic unit of life. Before a cell becomes specialized, it is a stem cell. [ Learn More › ]
Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells
“We are making the human body available for research.” -Emile Nuwaysir Cellular Dynamics [ Learn More › ]
The Coriell Cell Repositories provide essential research biomaterials to the scientific community by establishing, verifying, maintaining, and distributing cell cultures and DNA. [ Learn More › ]
iPS Cell Research at Coriell
Coriell has developed expertise establishing, testing, banking, and characterizing iPS cells, benefitting the research community at large. [ Learn More › ]
Working with Coriell
The Coriell Stem Cell Laboratory offers characterization, differentiation, and expansion of induced pluripotent stem cell lines and others lines through various repositories at Coriell, including the NINDS, NIGMS, and NIA Repositories. [ Learn More › ]
Cell Lines & DNA
Click here to view the online catalog.
Meet our Team
Click here to meet our leadership and scientific staff.