Cancer research using cell lines has the advantages of not only being able to obtain target cells indefinitely, but also performing reproducible experiments, investigating intracellular metabolism, and manipulating various homeostatic factors. Cell lines are currently used as the essential model in a variety of researches including cell differentiation, gene expression, drug sensitivity, immunity, cell invasions and metastasis, antigen expression and secretion, development of single-cell antibody, factors for growth and inhibition and genomic profiling. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a variety of cell lines that are well-characterized. Seoul National University Cancer Institute's Cell Biology Laboratory and the Korean Cell Line Bank (KCLB) have established and distributed patient-derived cell lines since 1982 so that researchers in field of life sciences can use them for research conveniently. Over 2,000 cell/organoid lines originated from multiple organs were established and preserved as a result of cultivating more than 8,600 individual tissues by KCLB. Furthermore, KCLB is still continuing to develop various types of cell line stocks to contribute to related research field. The Korean Cell Line Research Foundation (approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology on December 18, 1991) was designated as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the United Nations and is recognized as an international depository authority (IDA) in accordance with Budapest Treaty on the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms for the purpose of patent procedure (Currently, only 48 depositories in 26 countries were approved for IDA). Experimental models for cancer research include cancer cell lines, patient-derived PDXTs, and cancer tissue-derived organoids. Organoids are organized by self-renewal and differentiation from embryonic stem cells, iPSC and adult stem cells under specific growing environment. Many biomedical scientists over the world have mentioned about 3D ex-vivo model as a type of mini-organ that was demonstrated to represent physiologically similar in vivo system while being incubated in a three-dimensional tumor microenvironment. Organoid-based research platforms exhibit a variety of potential applications including drug screening, bio-banking, infectious diseases and, by extension, regenerative therapy via genomic correction, personalized and precise treatment in conjunction with patient's genomic profiles. Since 2016, Our laboratory has been developing and establishing organoid lines derived from various tissues. At the same time, we have characterized the established organoids using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and pharmacological analysis. In 2017, Ministry of Science and ICT designated KCLB as the Life Research Resource Conservation Agency. In addition, since 2020, KCLB has also been designated as the institution for National Strategic Life Research Resource (cell line) that provides central infrastructure of national research related to the cell lines.

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