December 17, 2008: California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency, has awarded Fluidigm Corp. and Stemgent Inc. a grant to develop a microfluidic cell culture chip (C2C) and support system that will help researchers accelerate stem cell research in California, the companies announced in a news release.
The new integrated fluidic circuit (IFC) and system will help scientists identify stem cell culture and differentiation conditions, as well as genes and molecules impacting stem cell renewal and reprogramming.
“These awards represent the entry of the biotechnology industry into CIRM-funded initiatives to accelerate progress,” said Alan Trounson, president of CIRM, in a news release.
“Reprogramming a patient’s differentiated cells — such as skin cells — into stem cells overcomes the inherent ethical and immunological barriers to therapeutic usage of embryonic stem cells,” noted Marc Unger, Fluidigm’s chief scientific officer.
“We believe the C2C IFC would be an enabling tool for stem cell researchers. By designing and building a stem cell-specific microfluidic chip in conjunction with a Fluidigm system we can substantially reduce the complexity and cost of fundamental stem cell research.”
Fluidigm teamed with Stemgent, a San Diego-based provider of stem cell reagents and tools.