title: Databases and collaboration require standards for human stem cell research.
abstract: Stem cell research is at an important juncture: despite significant potential for human health and several countries with key initiatives to expedite commercialization, there are gaps in capturing and exploiting the results of past and current research. Here, we propose a concerted plan that could be taken to foster a more collaborative approach and ensure that all research efforts can be leveraged across the community. The creation of a definitive centralized database repository, or at least harmonized data repositories, for stem cell groups in academia and industry, enabling secure selective sharing of data when needed, could provide the core structure that is sought globally and protect intellectual property. The development of minimum information about stem cell experiments (MIASCE) could be key to this development.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Drug Discovery, 1633 Bayshore Highway, Suite 342, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA.
authors.forename: Nadia K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Litterman
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Drug Discovery, 1633 Bayshore Highway, Suite 342, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA; Collaborations in Chemistry, 5616 Hilltop Needmore Road, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526, USA. Electronic address: ekinssean@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D012015:Reference Standards; D057905:Stem Cell Research