Life Tech signs stem-cell research deal with Harvard, 5/13:87

Life Technologies has signed a collaborative research agreement and related license with Harvard University under which Life Tech has acquired exclusive rights to develop a panel of characterization assays to rapidly evaluate human pluripotent stem cells for their utility in discovery and translational research applications.

The panel, which will be offered on the company’s semiconductor sequencing and PCR-based genetic-analysis platforms, will help overcome hurdles that impede stem-cell technology from moving into the clinic.

The panel of assays was developed by Alex Meissner, PhD, associate professor, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, and is being studied further and validated in collaboration with Life Tech. Dr. Meissner is the lead author of a study in the journal Cell (2011;144[3]439–452) that identified a range of expression levels among key genes associated with pluripotency. By measuring gene activity in induced pluripotent cells against the study’s gene-expression range, his lab was able to accurately score cells for their potential to differentiate into particular cell lineages.

Life Technologies, 800-955-628