Washington D.C., August 4, 2015—Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) announced today that Susan G. Komen has signed on as Champion of its #authenticate campaign, bringing the total to more than 100 official supporters of the initiative. The campaign, launched in April 2015, seeks to expand cell line authentication in biomedical research in order to decrease the use of misidentified and contaminated cell lines and ultimately advance cures. GBSI is encouraging widespread adoption of cell authentication. “Contaminated and misidentified cell lines are a key contributor to irreproducible research. Best practices and standards exist to reduce the problems significantly and ensure more effective use of research dollars,” says Leonard Freedman, President of GBSI. “The #authenticate campaign is calling upon both experienced and emerging scientists to adopt cell authentication. We’re asking for a culture shift, and commitments by organizations like Komen reinforce the need to enhance fidelity in research and take us a big step closer to that goal.”
“As the largest nonprofit funder of breast cancer research, our goal is to ensure that scientific discoveries reach patients as quickly as possible,” said Judith A. Salerno, M.D., M.S., President and CEO of Susan G. Komen. “We’re pleased to help increase awareness and elevate the dialogue by joining the #authenticate campaign, which will go a long way toward ensuring standardization and replicability of biomedical research.” Komen joins 100 stakeholders supporting the campaign including researchers making personal commitments to the cause, financial supporters, and the following organizations:
ATCCCellBank AustraliaChildren’s Medical Research InstituteChordoma FoundationFasterCuresInternational Cell Line Authentication CommitteeMelanoma Research FoundationProstate Cancer FoundationRare Cancer Research Foundation "The Prostate Cancer Foundation has been a long-time supporter of cell line authentication measures which promote the reproducibility and fidelity of scientific research," said Howard R. Soule, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Science Officer, Prostate Cancer Foundation. "We are excited to be working in partnership with GBSI and so many other high profile organizations to further the aims of the #authenticate campaign."
As part of the #authenticate campaign, GBSI has conducted a survey of cell biologists. With 450 researchers responding, preliminary findings show that perceived costs and time constraints are a primary reasons that cell authentication is not routinely performed by researchers, despite the availability of low-cost and efficient testing. Training is another major issue with nearly 75% of researchers considering themselves experts or seasoned cell-culturists, yet many indicate that they have received no (formal) training on cell line authentication. The full results of the Cell Culture and Authentication survey are expected to be available in the fall of 2015.
“Our focus is to standardize key techniques, improve quality control systems, and ensure more effective use of millions of dollars in research expenditures to accelerate translation time from bench to clinic to bedside,” says Freedman. “Through GBSI’s forthcoming cell culture and authentication training, researchers will learn how to test for and decrease the likelihood of cell line contamination and misidentification, and research reproducibility problems involving cultured cell will decrease.”
The continued and widespread use of misidentified or contaminated cell lines has been reported to range from a conservative low of 15 percent to a high of 36 percent of preclinical life science research, and is a key contributor to a lack of reproducibility. A new study published in open access journal PLOS Biology, The Economics of Reproducibility in Preclinical Research by Drs. Leonard P. Freedman, Iain M. Cockburn, and Timothy S. Simcoe, quantifies the amount spent every year in the U.S. on preclinical research that cannot be reproduced.
Additional resources on #authenticate and other GBSI initiatives are available at gbsi.org.
About Global Biological Standards Institute GBSI, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to enhancing the quality of biomedical research by advocating best practices and standards to accelerate the translation of research breakthroughs into life-saving therapies. For more information, visit gbsi.org. Twitter @GBSIorg.
About Susan G. Komen®Susan G. Komen is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease. Since its founding in 1982, Komen has funded more than $847 million in research and provided $1.8 billion in funding to screening, education, treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people in more than 30 countries worldwide. Komen was founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on social at ww5.komen.org/social.
About the Prostate Cancer FoundationThe Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993, PCF has raised more than $615 million and provided funding to more than 2,000 research programs at nearly 200 cancer centers and universities. The PCF global research enterprise now extends to 19 countries. PCF advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more efficient investment of governmental research funds for transformational cancer research. Its efforts have helped produce a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer. For more information, go to pcf.org.
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