Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №10/2007

LIFE THERE

LONDON PRESS SERVICE INFORMS

Developing Robotic Stem Cell Research

A biotechnology company in the United Kingdom that develops drugs to regenerate body tissues has secured a technology programme grant worth 1.1 million pounds.

The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) grant will support a three-year collaborative research and development project called ‘A technology to ensure optimum cell performance for regenerative medicine’.

The company, Plasticell Limited, is the lead partner in a consortium that includes University College London (UCL) and the National Institute for Biological Standards & Control. The company will own the rights to all intellectual property and products issuing from the project.

The purpose of the project is to automate Plasticell’s Combinatorial Cell Culture technology using process automation from UCL’s stem cell bioprocessing unit and advanced imaging methods from the National Institute for Biological Standards & Control (NIBSC), the site of the UK Stem Cell Bank.

Combinatorial Cell Culture is a proprietary platform technology used to test large numbers of variables in series for their ability to direct the differentiation of stem cells into clinically useful cell types – so far a bottleneck in the field. Automation of the process is expected to increase further the number of experiments that can be performed simultaneously and to facilitate adoption of the technology by the life sciences industry.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Yen Choo, Plasticell’s chief executive, said: “I am very pleased our consortium has secured this highly competitive funding from the DTI [and] which allows Plasticell to progress Combinatorial Cell Culture in collaboration with world-class partners at UCL and the NIBSC.”

The Minister for Science & Innovation, Malcolm Wicks, said: “The UK is an acknowledged leader in this field and we want to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of stem cell research. That’s why we are supporting the Plasticell consortium on this project which provides a great opportunity to harness the UK’s world-class expertise and use it to boost our economy and, potentially, our health.

More research hands: UK biotechnology company Plasticell has secured a grant of 1.1 million pounds from the Department of Trade & Industry.

More research hands: UK biotechnology company Plasticell has secured a grant of 1.1 million pounds from the Department of Trade & Industry.

“Stem cell research has tremendous potential to tackle some of the most devastating diseases. It could benefit patients with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, juvenile diabetes and heart disease.”

Sir Aaron Klug, a Nobel laureate and a senior adviser to the company, added: “This technology offers a powerful key to the goal of developing pathways for the controlled differentiation of stem cells. This is absolutely required in order to realise the potential of regenerative medicine. The DTI grant is not only a milestone for Plasticell but also for the UK’s effort in the field.”

Plasticell is a privately held, London-based biotechnology company using innovative, high-throughput stem cell technologies and novel drug-discovery platforms to dissect the mechanisms leading to differentiation of stem cells, the master cells responsible for tissue development and repair. Plasticell’s research focus is to discover regenerative, small molecule drugs.

The company also forms industry alliances by partnering its Combinatorial Cell Culture technology for high-throughput stem cell differentiation, to derive cell lines and reagents for research and therapy applications.

The announcement coincided with the recent first meeting of the UK/Medicon Valley (a Danish/Swedish biotechnology cluster) collaboration that will focus on stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Academics and biotech companies are to hold workshops and visit London, Edinburgh and Cambridge.

Plasticell will automate its research product, CombiCult, using industry-standard robotic equipment housed in sterile enclosures where tissue culture can take place. This will increase productivity by enabling experiments to run 24/7 in a contaminant-free environment. In addition, Plasticell will license the technique and allow the wider research community to benefit from this important technology.

The programme is investing directly in new and emerging technologies and has been designed to help businesses work collaboratively with each other or with academic partners to develop technologies that will underpin products and services of the future.

By Ray Cooling