In conversation with... EBiSC2

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are key tools for early drug development and disease modelling. iPSCs are mature adult cells that have been reprogrammed to make them ‘pluripotent’, i.e. able to differentiate into any type of cell found in the human body.

Building on the foundations laid by the IMI project EBiSC, which set up the initial EBiSC catalogue of over 800 iPSC lines, EBiSC2 successfully enabled EBiSC to transition into a self-sustaining biobanking model for long-term operations. The project developed new iPSC lines to expand and enrich the catalogue, new pre-differentiated cells which help to simplify iPSC research, and completed proof-of-concept studies undertaken by academia and industry to demonstrate reliability. The EBiSC2 project has provided the scientific community with access to a wide range of robust, high-quality iPSCs from diverse disease and genetic backgrounds which will continue to be available to all researchers via www.ebisc.org.