Inducing stem cells to become different cell types efficiently now possible using a three-dimensional platform
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - 07:00
in Biology & Nature
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the potential to form any cell type in the body, providing a powerful tool for drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Yet coaxing these cells to reliably take on a specific fate in the laboratory has proven challenging on a large scale. Now, a team of A*STAR stem cell researchers has developed a cell differentiation protocol in which iPS cells are propagated and expanded in a three-dimensional (3D) bioreactor to efficiently create neural progenitor cells.