About us

We are part of the worldwide DKMS family.

The DKMS Life Science Lab is a subsidiary of the non-profit organization DKMS. Since its foundation in 1997, it has initiated many groundbreaking innovations. We were the first genotyping laboratory worldwide that applied Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology for high-throughput typing. This unique capability allows us to type more than one million potential stem cell donors annually.

Mission

We support the DKMS in the fight against blood cancer and other diseases of the hematopoietic system. We contribute to the improvement of treatment options through the best possible typing of stem cell donors and patients to save the lives of as many patients as possible.

With our scientific work and research, we promote the further development of donor selection and treatment options for patients.

Our Performance

Our unique high-throughput genotyping capabilities have been key for the growth of the DKMS donor pool. Today, more than ten million potential lifesavers belong to the DKMS family. With their help, DKMS so far has given more than 100,000 people with blood cancer a second chance at life.

To boost the chances of survival and cure for people with blood cancer, the DKMS Life Science Lab gGmbH not only thrives for the best quality of HLA typing but also collaborates with clinical research centers all around the world including the Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) in Dresden.

High-Tech for more Chances of Life

More than one million samples of potential stem cell donors are analyzed here every year. In addition, our lab makes an outstanding contribution to medical research and optimizing the search for suitable stem cell donors. The typing specialists at our lab have already discovered almost 6,000 previously unknown HLA gene variants (alleles) and made them available to the international HLA allele database. All of this benefits treating physicians and their patients worldwide.
Currently, our typing profile contains twelve HLA loci with 24 high-resolution tissue characteristics. Furthermore, we include other potentially relevant criteria for donor selection, such as CMV status, blood groups (ABO and RhD), MICA, MICB, and KIR receptor group.
2022
25 years anniversary & Swabster

We continue twenty-five years of pioneering innovation with another new development from our laboratory. The so-called Swabster is a self-developed robot that supports us in error-free automated sample processing. This high-precision device accurately places donor buccal swabs in their predetermined position on a 96-well plate and removes the plastic stem, eliminating traditional sources of human error.

2021
Molecular infection diagnostic

From 2020 to 2021, the DKMS Life Science Lab also used its expertise and resources to fight SARS-CoV2. In just a few months, a completely new workflow was established in the lab and mobile collection teams were set up. In this way, we were supporting the public health departments of Saxony and in particular of Dresden by providing additional testing capacity in the fight against the pandemic.

2019
New location & new profile

At the new location, the DKMS laboratory now has a total area of over 4,500 square meters. available. Every day, up to 7,000 buccal swab samples from new donors are analyzed here in a complex process. In addition, the donor typing profile was also expanded this year to include HLA-DPA1,-DQA1, and -DRB3,4,5, so that a total of 12 HLA genes are now included in the genotyping profile.

2018
HLA-Award

The DKMS Life Science Lab is awarded the HLA Award for its outstanding scientific work from the official journal of The European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI).

2017
CMV status by buccal swab

From January 2017 to January 2018, the DKMS Life Science Lab has developed a method to determine the cytomegalovirus (CMV) status by buccal swabs and thus created the possibility to determine the CMV status for donors together with the initial registration.

2016
KIR on allelic level

With the typing of the KIR genes at allelic group level, we were able to master another milestone that makes our typing services unique in the world.

2013
Novel Sequencing Technology

In 2013, as the world’s first HLA typing lab, we started using novel sequencing technology, NGS, for HLA typing in a truly high throughput and highly parallelised fashion. Using this process, over 1 million potential stem cell donors are typed each year.

2001
Part of DKMS

In 2001, DKMS took over the laboratory as a 100% subsidiary. Since then, we have been part of the DKMS family.

1997
The foundation

Our laboratory was founded in 1997 as MMD (Medical Molecular Diagnostic GmbH) in Dresden. However, its beginnings date back to 1991, when it was part of the University Hospital Dresden.

Our Services & Expertise

We supply high-quality immunogenetic genotyping services. Our mission is to provide a more efficient route to accurate results. We also welcome opportunities to cooperate in other areas where our lab´s NGS and high-throughput expertise may be of help.
Services
Genotyping / HLA
We offer cutting-edge molecular genotyping for HLA class I and class II, NK cell receptors (KIR), blood groups, and more ...
Services
Noninvasive Determination of CMV status
Non-invasive oral sampling for CMV IgG determination creates new opportunities and shortens the processes. We derive CMV serostatus from dried swabs with good sensitivity and specificity.
Services
DNA Services
Consistent sample processing is critical for many studies. We deliver high-quality DNA extracted from your sample material.

Latest News

News
24/04/2024
37th EFI Conference in Geneva
This prestigious event, themed ‘Unveiling Diversity, Nurturing Transplant Bonds, Orchestrating Immunity,’ promises an enriching exploration into the latest advancements in the field of transplantation and immunology.
News
30/11/2023
As the holiday season approaches,
we would like to express our sincere appreciation for your ongoing support throughout the year. Whether you are a valued employee, client, partner, or friend, your contributions have been invaluable to us.
News
15/11/2023
APHIA Annual Meeting 2023
Cutting-edge insights in Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
News
13/07/2023
IDRC WMDA Meeting 2023
Last month DKMS Life Science Lab had a chance to participate in two international events - International Donor Registry Conference and World Marrow Donor Association Meeting.
News
14/06/2023
Why Next Generation Sequencing was a game changer
Ten years ago, Sanger sequencing was the gold standard of HLA typing. However, even in our high throughput setting, the typing capacity of Sanger sequencing was quite limited.
News
26/04/2023
Vive la vie – DKMS goes to EFI in France
Nantes, the historical capital of Brittany in the Pays de la Loire district, is known for its sophisticated mechanical animals, such as an 8-meter-high moving elephant.
News
05/01/2023
Motivating Feedback
Our 25th anniversary was the occasion to let customers and partners reflect on their experiences in working with our laboratory.
News
11/12/2022
Opening during the holiday season
Please pay attention to our opening hours during the holiday season in case of urgent samples.
News
31/10/2022
Three conferences in a row
Our colleagues attended the WMDA Meeting, the ASHI Meeting, and finally The ONE Forum.
News
14/07/2022
Press conference at our lab
Yesterday was a special day - we held a press conference at our lab to celebrate our 25th anniversary.
View all

Network

DKMS Stem Cell Bank
Originally established and still operating as a cord blood bank, our DKMS Stem Cell Bank is the first facility in the world which makes cryopreserved peripheral blood stem cells available for unrelated allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
Collaborative Biobank
Established in 2016 and coordinated by our Clinical Trials Unit, the Collaborative Biobank (CoBi) is a cooperative science platform that provides resources for research projects in the field of blood cancer worldwide.
DKMS Registry
As an international registry, we list DKMS donors from our centers in the UK, India and Chile. Our experts provide information about their HLA characteristics to registries, search units and transplant centers around the world with the aim of finding the most suitable donor for patients as quickly as possible.
DKMS Germany
Since its foundation in 1991 the nonprofit organization DKMS is dedicated to improve patients situation with blood cancer worldwide. Up untill now, more than 7 million potential stem cell donors were registered and already more than 91.000 patients were given a second chance at live by stem cell transplantation.
DKMS United States
The DKMS US Donor Center was incorporated in June 2004. Since then it continues to provide help for blood cancer patients by registering more than 1.1 million new donors, supporting donor drives and raising awareness for the fight against blood cancer.
DKMS Poland
A person is diagnosed with leukemia every 60 minutes in Poland. Many of those patients can't find their matching donor. In order to achieve a decisive improvement here and to expand the donor data available worldwide as well, "DKMS Poland" was founded in 2009.
DKMS United Kingdom
The DKMS donor center UK was incorporated in 2013. Having since then registered more than 800.000 potential stem cell donors and hosting several donor recruitment campaigns the DKMS UK contributes to the fight against blood cancer worldwide.
DKMS Chile
Since 2017 the DKMS donor center Chile strives for the goal of supporting blood cancer patients by promoting donor registration and enabling patients access to the help they need. Until now, more than 83.000 potential stem cell donors have registered through DKMS Chile.
DKMS-BMST India
The DKMS BMST Foundation India was incorporated 2019 as a joint venture of two nonprofit organizations: the BMST (Bangalore Medical Services Trust) and the DKMS. Together already more than 50.000 Donors were recruited to help patients in India and all over the world.
DKMS Africa
Originated from a close partnership of the South African Sunflower Fund and the DKMS, the DKMS Africa Donor Center was officially founded in 2021. Motivated by the goal to help as many patients in Africa and worldwide as possible, already more than eight thousand Donors have been recruited.

Certificates

Quality plays a key role at our lab: From stringent controls and internal audits to the participation in external proficiency tests which independently confirm the high quality of our typing. Accordingly, we are accredited by the leading organization of immunogenetics and transplant immunology in Europe, the European Federation of Immunogenetics (EFI).
EFI certificate no. 04-DE-022.978
(264 Kb)
ZKRD certificate Search Unit Dresden
(245 Kb)
GMP Certificate no: DE_SN_01_GMP_2022_0009
(121 Kb)
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