"The Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Initiative will be an important resource that will help researchers around the world understand the links between genetic variation, cell behavior and disease, and speed up the translation of this research into improved diagnosis and treatment of disease," said Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust. "The field of induced pluripotent stem cell research was made possible thanks to the seminal discoveries of Sir John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, who were last month awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for their work. This is a field in which the U.K. remains at the cutting-edge. Our investment in this new initiative should further strengthen the U.K.'s position and lead to patient benefit."

 

Investigators from the Sanger Institute will endeavor to generate more than 1,000 iPS cell lines, from both healthy subjects and those with diseases. The project will also include collaborations with other research bodies such as the University of Cambridge, University of Dundee, European Bioinformatics Institute and University College London.

 

 

"Induced pluripotent stem cells hold enormous potential to help us understand and treat human disease, but currently the application of iPS cell technology is limited by gaps in our knowledge regarding their biological properties and how we can best manipulate them to accurately model human disease," said Prof. Sir John Savill, chief executive of the MRC. "By investing in a U.K.-wide initiative in iPS cell technology, 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."    

 

 

SOURCE: Wellcome Trust press release