Abstract
We have developed a National Information System of Laboratory Organisms (NISLO) which covers laboratory animals, micro-organisms, plants, algae, animal tissue and cell culture, and plant tissue and cell culture. In this paper we outline the present status of the NISLO, mainly focusing on laboratory animals, micro-organisms and animal tissue and cell culture. The phase of development has come to the point at which consideration has to be made concerning how the NISLO should be used by researchers in foreign countries as well as in Japan. The paper concludes that both international and domestic co-operation is very important to develop and to disseminate a data bank like the NISLO.