The overall aim of this grant was to create a Lymphoblastoid Cell Line (LCL) collection from children and parents participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The study has collected data on a scale and with a richness unprecedented in the field of epidemiological study and the generation of the cell line bank would provide material for further genetic, gene expression and metabolomic research.

Development of the resource initially involved establishing a cell culture facility with robotic cell maintenance systems, development of a bespoke Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and development of protocols for the transformation and growth of LCLs. Once these systems were in place LCL production would become a routine laboratory procedure enabling cell lines to be produced from all cohort members who consented to cell line production.