Scientists hope to speed up the development of regenerative drugs for diseases such as cancer by using robotics to automate stem cell research.

London-based biotechnology firm Plasticell hopes to use robotics to automate its Combicult technology to enable thousands of stem cell experiments to be conducted at once, rather than just a handful at a time by a single scientist.

The research will be conducted in collaboration with University College London and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) utilising a £1.1m (€1.7m) UK government grant.

Dr Yen Choo, chief executive at Plasticell, explained to DrugResearcher.com that the first step towards fulfilling the potential of stem cells is to speed up research into cell differentiation.

Once automated, scientists could use Plasticell’s Combicult technology to test how thousands of factors - such as growth, nutrients, hormones or physical conditions - affect how stem cells give rise to tissue cells like lung, heart and brain cells.

The technology could then provide scientists with the means to generate cells of any tissue type for clinical use. For example, a drug designed to combat heart disease could have its activity assessed on human heart cells or alternatively, liver cells could be produced to test drug toxicity.

The automation will use industry-standard robotic equipment housed in a sterile environment. This will increase productivity by enabling experiments to run 24/7 in a contaminant-free environment. The project will utilise the stem cell bioprocessing unit at University College London and advanced imaging methods from NIBSC, the site of the UK Stem Cell Bank.

Once completed, Plasticell hopes to licence the technique to the wider research community. The company will also use the knowledge they gain through examining stem cell differentiation in their own research programme to develop drugs that regenerate tissue.

Source: Drug Researcher