Raising the bar on quality cells
News
NYSCF wants to transform stem cell treatments from dreams to reality. In order to move stem cell-based cures from the theoretical and into clinics, scientists must standardize and ensure the quality and safety of stem cell lines. NYSCF CEO and Co-founder Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Vice President of Scientific Programs Dr. Michael Yaffe, and NYSCF Vice President of Stem Cell Research Dr. Scott Noggle co-authored a paper in Nature Cell Biology proposing strategies to lay the foundations for improving stem cell lines and establishing the authenticity of cells. The paper discusses the obstacles researchers face in confirming the authenticity and quality of current stem cell lines. Thousands of stem cell lines exist, generated through a variety of methods and scores of different labs. The publication explores how to understand quality and authenticity for this assortment of existing stem cell lines and how to set standards moving forward to reduce the variability and improve the quality of stem cell lines. As NYSCF leads the field of stem cell research towards greater standardization and reduced variability, NYSCF simultaneously pushes the field towards greater reproducibility. With standardized stem cell lines, scientists around the world can conduct the same experiments and attain the consistent results, further accelerating and generating efficiency in research and in the pursuit of cures.