SBIR Phase I: Automated platform for maintenance, culture scale up and screening of human Embryonic Stem Cells

这个第一阶段的小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目由干细胞产品公司。(SCP)开发了一种自动化细胞培养系统，用于维持和扩大人类胚胎干细胞（hES）的生产。2010年，全球干细胞、细胞因子和生长因子治疗市场预计将达到207亿美元。增加hES细胞的可用性和可获得性是基础干细胞研究的基础，因为它们代表了人类发育的关键模型系统，并且可以提供几乎无限的细胞资源，否则无法大量获得。目前的细胞培养技术是劳动密集型的，需要高技能的人员。改进的培养基和自动化培养条件将使hES细胞的常规处理能够用于研究，确保重现性，并使测定、筛选和治疗的改进能够更快地商业化。培养和维持hES细胞的技术由SCP创始人James Thomson博士于1998年发现。此后，在我们团队成员的贡献下，细胞培养条件不断得到改善，最近发表的不含动物产品的确定培养基证明了这一点。SCP在培养基优化和自动化方面的专业知识将有助于将当前的培养方案转移到负担得起的常用自动化平台。该平台的进一步开发将促进hES细胞向血液谱系分化的自动化（支持SCP的使命，即从hES细胞中开发红细胞和血小板）。它还将有助于提供药物开发、高通量筛选、生化表征和潜在医疗所需的各种其他血细胞类型。

This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project by Stem Cell Products Inc. (SCP) develops an automated cell culturing system for maintenance and scale-up production of human embryonic stem cells (hES). The worldwide market for stem cells, cytokines and growth factor therapies is expected to reach $20.7B in 2010. Increased availability and accessibility of hES cells is fundamental to basic stem cell research as they represent a key model system for human development and may provide a nearly unlimited resource of cells that are otherwise inaccessible in large numbers. Current cell culturing techniques are labor intensive, requiring highly-skilled personnel. Improved media and automated culturing conditions will enable routine handling of hES cells for research, ensuring reproducibility and enabling faster commercialization of improvements to assays, screening, and treatment. The technology for culturing and maintaining hES cells was discovered in 1998 by Dr. James Thomson, an SCP founder. Cell culture conditions have since been improved continuously with contributions by members of our team, most recently demonstrated in the publication of a defined media free of animal products. SCP's expertise in media optimization and automation will facilitate transfer of current culturing protocols into affordable, commonly used automation platforms. Further development of this platform will facilitate automation of differentiating hES cells towards the blood lineage (in support of SCP's mission to develop red blood cells and platelets from hES cells). It will also help to provide various other blood cell types in quantities required for drug development, high throughput screening, biochemical characterization and potential medical treatment.