References
Cryo Brehm
Outwit the death!
Even after the death of an animal, living cells can often still be isolated from its tissues. Based on this knowledge, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft has applied for a patent on a procedure, which is used to create a collection of living cells of various animal species.
Cryo-Brehm - Deutsche Zellbank für Wildtiere „Alfred Brehm“ (German cell bank for wild animals)
The establishment of a cell bank for animals was decided in the town hall of Hansestadt Lübeck and the founding treaty between the partners was signed on November 02, 2007.
This initiative named »Cryo-Brehm – German cell bank for wild animals „Alfred Brehm“«, had been initially started by the Fraunhofer Institut for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) in St. Ingbert (Saarland) in cooperation with the Neunkircher Zoological Garden headed by Dr. Norbert Fritsch. Meanwhile, it has been adopted by the Luebeck Fraunhofer EMB (Establishment for Marine Biotechnology) and integrated to a network consisting of the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hansestadt Hamburg and the Zoological Garden of Hansestadt Rostock.
The Fraunhofer IBMT, supporting this process as a sponsor of EMB, mirrors the cell samples in its bio-databank (eurocryoSaar) in Sulzbach (Saarland). This facilitates an extraordinary safe collection of stem cells at two different locations (Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland).
The cell cultures, especially of adult stem cells, are obtained based on procedures which were applied for worldwide patent by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The isolated cells from various species (from fish to mammals) are stem or progenitor cells, respectively, taken from the tissue of adult organism. These stem cells are exclusively taken from organs of animals short after their death. Living animals or animal embryos are not used. Parallel to this, also other tissues are used (e.g. placenta) to be able to produce proliferating cell cultures for gaining cells. This worldwide unique databank with its high quality samples creates the basis for a live collection of live deposited genomes of various species. This provides the opportunity to use living cells of various organisms for research purposes, such as toxicity tests, phylogenetic analysis, comparative differentiation studies, and other experiments on a cellular level.
This also represents a complete storage of the genome which can be used for any future analysis as well. The cell bank is a transnational project between four federal states so far, and it shall be expanded in the future.
Biological collections
As long as biological research exists, collections have been created. They form valuable material libraries for this scientific field. For example, Carl von Linne has started a vast botanical collection in Uppsala since the mid-18th century, for which he was sent seeds and plants from all over the world to form the foundation of the Botanical Gardens in Uppsala.
In Jena, Ernst Haeckel has formed the basis for the collection of the Institute of Zoology. In his nearly 60 years of teaching there, Jena became a “Mecca for fresh zoologists” and the center of German Darwinism, not least because of the exhibits displayed there.
Among the most important ones worldwide, the Museum of Natural History at the Humboldt University Berlin houses more than 30 billions of zoological, palaeontological, mineralogical and geological exhibits.
The list could be continued almost indefinitely, naming various collections of mammals, bivalves, gastropods, feathers, insects and many others. In spite of their significance, to all these collections there is one major drawback. They exclusively consist of dead specimen. Apart from Zoological or Botanical Gardens, big collections of living higher organisms are hard to come by.
The Genebank of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben represents a very important herbarium.
“The mandate of the Genebank comprises the collection, conservation, and distribution of plant genetic resources (PGR). With a total inventory of 146,966 accessions from 2,649 plant species and 779 genera, the IPK-Genebank holds one of the most comprehensive collections worldwide and provides a major contribution to the prevention of extinction (genetic erosion) of both cultivated plants and their related wild species”
Source: web sites of the institutes and other internet publications
So far, a collection of living animal samples only exists at the San Diego Zoo, where a so called „Frozen Zoo®“ was installed (the world’s biggest library of animal genomes, CRES – Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, which was founded in 1975). Through it, tissue samples of 370 animal species are preserved in liquid nitrogen at -195°C in the hope of being able to isolate viable cells in the future. A similar initiative called “Frozen Ark” was started in the UK in 2007 (collection, preservation and storage of DNA from living cells of endangered species).
The storage of living samples in liquid nitrogen is one of the core competences of the Fraunhofer IBMT and the Fraunhofer EMB. In recent years, methods to isolate adult stem cells from glandular tissue of every vertebrae species were established due to newly developed cryotechnologies. These stem cells possess two extraordinary features:
1.) They are able to reproduce over a very long period of time, which means that an abundance of similar cells can be produced from small samples.
2.) They can differentiate into various types of cells, which means, one can get exactly the type of cells one needs for their studies.
Until April 7, 2008, cells of 30 different animal species have already been stored.
From the preamble of the cooperation agreement
»The partners agree that the preservation of the living individual and the associated diversity of life are of the utmost importance for us and future generations. Accordingly, the partners’ declared aim is the establishment of a cryobank for medium- and long-term storage of living stem and progenitor cells of exotic animals and wildlife. In a vital form, these cells contain the entire genome of respective species and therefore form an important source of cells and information for the conservation of species diversity on earth on earth. Furthermore, the collection shall be beneficial for research. Thus research facilities in this field shall have access to this stem cell bank. «
reconciliation in the ice
Alfred Edmund Brehm (born February 2, 1829 in Unterrenthendorf near Neustadt an der Orla, died November 11, 1884 in Renthendorf) was a German zoologist and writer. His name became a synonym for popular scientific -zoological literature because of his book “Brehms Tierleben” (Brehms animal life; written during his years as zoo director in Hamburg). He was the first director of the Hamburg Zoo (1863 – 1866), in a time when Carl Hagenbeck tried to establish his own zoo in Hamburg. Brehm, who endorsed the humanization of animals, condemned the methods of Hagenbeck, who was said to be quite ruthless with regard to his animal trappers. Brehm was able to prevail and Hagenbeck was forced to relocate to Stellingen on the outskirts of Hamburg. After Brehm’s zoo was closed and Hamburg was expanded though, Stellingen was incorporated into Hamburg and Hagenbecks Tierpark, founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck jr., became its only zoo.
Contact person:
Prof. Dr. Charli Kruse
Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Marine Biotechnologie (EMB)
MFC Innovationscampus 1
Maria-Goeppert-Straße 1
23538 Lübeck
Phone: 0451/2903-210
Fax: 0451/2903-213
Email: charli.kruse@emb.fraunhofer.de
The Fraunhofer IBMT, supporting this process as a sponsor of EMB, mirrors the cell samples in its bio-databank (eurocryoSaar) in Sulzbach (Saarland). This facilitates an extraordinary safe collection of stem cells at two different locations (Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland).
The cell cultures, especially of adult stem cells, are obtained based on procedures which were applied for worldwide patent by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The isolated cells from various species (from fish to mammals) are stem or progenitor cells, respectively, taken from the tissue of adult organism. These stem cells are exclusively taken from organs of animals short after their death. Living animals or animal embryos are not used. Parallel to this, also other tissues are used (e.g. placenta) to be able to produce proliferating cell cultures for gaining cells. This worldwide unique databank with its high quality samples creates the basis for a live collection of live deposited genomes of various species. This provides the opportunity to use living cells of various organisms for research purposes, such as toxicity tests, phylogenetic analysis, comparative differentiation studies, and other experiments on a cellular level.
This also represents a complete storage of the genome which can be used for any future analysis as well. The cell bank is a transnational project between four federal states so far, and it shall be expanded in the future.
Biological collections
As long as biological research exists, collections have been created. They form valuable material libraries for this scientific field. For example, Carl von Linne has started a vast botanical collection in Uppsala since the mid-18th century, for which he was sent seeds and plants from all over the world to form the foundation of the Botanical Gardens in Uppsala.
In Jena, Ernst Haeckel has formed the basis for the collection of the Institute of Zoology. In his nearly 60 years of teaching there, Jena became a “Mecca for fresh zoologists” and the center of German Darwinism, not least because of the exhibits displayed there.
Among the most important ones worldwide, the Museum of Natural History at the Humboldt University Berlin houses more than 30 billions of zoological, palaeontological, mineralogical and geological exhibits.
The list could be continued almost indefinitely, naming various collections of mammals, bivalves, gastropods, feathers, insects and many others. In spite of their significance, to all these collections there is one major drawback. They exclusively consist of dead specimen. Apart from Zoological or Botanical Gardens, big collections of living higher organisms are hard to come by.
The Genebank of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben represents a very important herbarium.
“The mandate of the Genebank comprises the collection, conservation, and distribution of plant genetic resources (PGR). With a total inventory of 146,966 accessions from 2,649 plant species and 779 genera, the IPK-Genebank holds one of the most comprehensive collections worldwide and provides a major contribution to the prevention of extinction (genetic erosion) of both cultivated plants and their related wild species”
Source: web sites of the institutes and other internet publications
So far, a collection of living animal samples only exists at the San Diego Zoo, where a so called „Frozen Zoo®“ was installed (the world’s biggest library of animal genomes, CRES – Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, which was founded in 1975). Through it, tissue samples of 370 animal species are preserved in liquid nitrogen at -195°C in the hope of being able to isolate viable cells in the future. A similar initiative called “Frozen Ark” was started in the UK in 2007 (collection, preservation and storage of DNA from living cells of endangered species).
The storage of living samples in liquid nitrogen is one of the core competences of the Fraunhofer IBMT and the Fraunhofer EMB. In recent years, methods to isolate adult stem cells from glandular tissue of every vertebrae species were established due to newly developed cryotechnologies. These stem cells possess two extraordinary features:
1.) They are able to reproduce over a very long period of time, which means that an abundance of similar cells can be produced from small samples.
2.) They can differentiate into various types of cells, which means, one can get exactly the type of cells one needs for their studies.
Until April 7, 2008, cells of 30 different animal species have already been stored.
From the preamble of the cooperation agreement
»The partners agree that the preservation of the living individual and the associated diversity of life are of the utmost importance for us and future generations. Accordingly, the partners’ declared aim is the establishment of a cryobank for medium- and long-term storage of living stem and progenitor cells of exotic animals and wildlife. In a vital form, these cells contain the entire genome of respective species and therefore form an important source of cells and information for the conservation of species diversity on earth on earth. Furthermore, the collection shall be beneficial for research. Thus research facilities in this field shall have access to this stem cell bank. «
reconciliation in the ice
Alfred Edmund Brehm (born February 2, 1829 in Unterrenthendorf near Neustadt an der Orla, died November 11, 1884 in Renthendorf) was a German zoologist and writer. His name became a synonym for popular scientific -zoological literature because of his book “Brehms Tierleben” (Brehms animal life; written during his years as zoo director in Hamburg). He was the first director of the Hamburg Zoo (1863 – 1866), in a time when Carl Hagenbeck tried to establish his own zoo in Hamburg. Brehm, who endorsed the humanization of animals, condemned the methods of Hagenbeck, who was said to be quite ruthless with regard to his animal trappers. Brehm was able to prevail and Hagenbeck was forced to relocate to Stellingen on the outskirts of Hamburg. After Brehm’s zoo was closed and Hamburg was expanded though, Stellingen was incorporated into Hamburg and Hagenbecks Tierpark, founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck jr., became its only zoo.
Contact person:
Prof. Dr. Charli Kruse
Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Marine Biotechnologie (EMB)
MFC Innovationscampus 1
Maria-Goeppert-Straße 1
23538 Lübeck
Phone: 0451/2903-210
Fax: 0451/2903-213
Email: charli.kruse@emb.fraunhofer.de
Go to website
GHRC (global HIV vaccine research cryorository)
Three years ago, the Fraunhofer Institut for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) received a project of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, concerning the setup of an exemplary HIV-bio bank for the development of vaccines against the AIDS virus (Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery – CAVD). Bringing this project to the Federal State of Saarland in Germany has been, without a doubt, the result of the continuous support of biotechnologies by both the federal state government and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, as well as the development of innovative cryotechnologies at the Fraunhofer IBMT.
further information
The Federal State of Saarland is now home to the world’s latest bio databank, equipped with electronic sample identification, cryogenically suitable storage chips on every test tube and a high degree of automation. Coordinated by the Fraunhofer IBMT, virologist and immunologist Priv.-Doz. Dr. H. von Briesen, eleven international partners and especially Saarland University (Prof. Dr. A. Meyerhans), the project was successfully completed on July 31, 2009. The last step was the certification of the bio databank and the affiliated laboratories according to European as well as American GCLP guidelines (Good Clinical Laboratory Practice). “We consider the successful development of this databank pioneering. Our greatest achievement is passing the acceptance process at the first attempt“, said IMBT director Prof. Fuhr.
Immediately on conclusion of the project, the Federal State of Saarland and the IBMT were awarded the contract for a second project to expand the research databank and its international networking as well as to construct the automated equipment urgently required to speed up the vaccine development. This two-year project has got an overall budget of five million US$, to which the Gates Foundation and its affiliated research groups contribute 3.2 million US$, the Federal State of Saarland contributes 0.5 million US$ and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft contributes 1.3 million US$.
»We strongly support this project as part of our innovation strategy, because our international influence will be strengthened as well as the development of laboratory equipment and medical engineering in the Federal State of Saarland. The expansion of the Saarland bio databank technology can be transferred to many clinical and biotechnological applications”, explained Joachim Rippel, Minister of Economics and Science of the Federal State of Saarland. The project is again coordinated by the Fraunhofer IBMT in close cooperation with Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA), the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC, UK), Lund University (Sweden), and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute (DIBIT, Italy), as well as a network of medical facilities in developing countries.
Contact person:
Herr Prof. Dr. Günter R. Fuhr
Herr Priv.-Doz. Dr. Hagen von Briesen
Phone: 06894/980-286
E-mail: hagen.briesen@ibmt.fraunhofer.de
Immediately on conclusion of the project, the Federal State of Saarland and the IBMT were awarded the contract for a second project to expand the research databank and its international networking as well as to construct the automated equipment urgently required to speed up the vaccine development. This two-year project has got an overall budget of five million US$, to which the Gates Foundation and its affiliated research groups contribute 3.2 million US$, the Federal State of Saarland contributes 0.5 million US$ and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft contributes 1.3 million US$.
»We strongly support this project as part of our innovation strategy, because our international influence will be strengthened as well as the development of laboratory equipment and medical engineering in the Federal State of Saarland. The expansion of the Saarland bio databank technology can be transferred to many clinical and biotechnological applications”, explained Joachim Rippel, Minister of Economics and Science of the Federal State of Saarland. The project is again coordinated by the Fraunhofer IBMT in close cooperation with Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA), the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC, UK), Lund University (Sweden), and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute (DIBIT, Italy), as well as a network of medical facilities in developing countries.
Contact person:
Herr Prof. Dr. Günter R. Fuhr
Herr Priv.-Doz. Dr. Hagen von Briesen
Phone: 06894/980-286
E-mail: hagen.briesen@ibmt.fraunhofer.de
Go to website