Coriell Extends Its Scope

When New Jersey gave the Coriell Institute for Medical Research $5 million last year, it was the first time any state had funded an umbilical cord blood bank. But no other state has a research institute like Coriell, in Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. The nonprofit has, for nearly five decades, collected, stored, and cultured cells, providing them to almost every major research center worldwide. Courtesy of Coriell InstituteAn umbilical cord blood cassette used in storing t

Written byJennifer Fisher Wilson

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The new bank will store the umbilical cord blood gathered from the state's newborns. "Having a readily available source of stem cells that can be transplanted into unrelated recipients will be a major advance," said David P. Beck, the institute's president, at the time of the bank's establishment last November.

Cord blood research holds vast potential for therapeutic interventions. One day, it could even be possible to coax stem cells into taking on characteristics of other tissues by selected treatments and culture condition. The new bank will help Coriell with its ongoing research into cord blood, as well as provide a life-saving source of stem cells for bone marrow transplants.

Since its founding in 1953, Coriell has provided millions of cell samples to researchers, serving as the basis for groundbreaking discoveries on Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, hypercholesterolemia, retinitis pigmentosa, and manic-depressive illness, among others, according to Coriell. The institute is ...

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