Surface for Stem Cell Reproduction

Most labs that grow stem cells rely on traditional plastic Petri dishes that have a gelatin coated surface for maintaining growth.  Researchers at MIT, however, have reported finding a polymer with imbedded vitronectin protein that performs far better than other dishes and keeps stem cells alive long enough to carry out studies of them. In effect, they used a parallel synthesis method for sorting through a large number of polymer and protein combinations before hitting on an optimal formula.     MORE

Image Credit:  Ying Mei, Krishanu Saha, Robert Langer, Rudolf Jaenisch, and Daniel G. Anderson- MIT and Genetic engineering and Biotechnology News