Carlsbad-based Life Technologies has introduced a test to help stem cell scientists quickly determine whether the cells theyre working with are any good.
The test, which can help researchers save time and effort, uses objective measurements to create a score card of the cells characteristics. Its intended for use with human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, which act much like embryonic stem cells.
Life Technologies introduced the test, called the TaqMan hPSC Scorecard Panel, Wednesday at the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference in Boston. The test costs $700.
Pluripotent stem cells are extremely versatile, capable of becoming almost any cell in the body. Both embryonic and IPS cells, made from skin cells reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state, have this power. But cells grown in lab cultures typically contain a mixture of truly pluripotent cells and others defective in some way. For example, cells may have a bias toward becoming a certain cell type.
Stem cells can be used for disease in a dish models that shed light on disease processes, to test the effectiveness and toxicity of potential drugs, and for direct therapy by converting them into cells to replace diseased or injured tissues.
However, researchers have to laboriously determine the characteristics of each lineage of stem cells, said Alex Meissner, a stem cell professor at Harvard who helped Life Technologies develop the test. If they guess wrong, weeks or months of work could be wasted.
The goal is to make it as fast and simple as possible, Meissner said.
The test measures the function of specific genes related to pluripotency and development bias. Its combined with software offered over the Internet to speed data analysis and sharing with researchers.
To judge the tests usability, Life Technologies asked other stem cell scientists to try it out. Among the testers is Kristin Baldwin, an associate professor at The Scripps Research Institute. Her research includes using stem cells to produce models of neurological diseases.
Baldwin said theres a need for such a test; her own evaluation hasnt been completed yet.
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Stem cell quality measured by test