Total reprogramming

University of Cambridge spinout Elpis Biomed Ltd. has a platform that rapidly produces stockpiles of pure, mature cell types from human pluripotent stem cells. While the company is first focusing on creating well-defined disease models, it’s also seeking partners to help develop cellular therapeutics.

There are two ways of coaxing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into becoming specific cell types: directed differentiation, which involves tuning culture conditions to guide stem cells through precursor stages until the desired cell type is reached; and direct reprogramming, which involves transducing stem cells with genetic elements that force them to adopt new phenotypes...