Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • OUTLOOK

Stem-cell start-ups seek to crack the mass-production problem

Commercial outfits are building the tools and know-how to manufacture treatments using induced pluripotent stem cells in the quantities required for clinical use.
  1. Eric Bender

    1. Eric Bender is a science writer in Newton, Massachusetts.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A masked researcher looks a glassware filled with cell culture in a lab

At French biotech firm TreeFrog Therapeutics, researchers can grow 15 billion human induced pluripotent stem cells in a single batch. Credit: TreeFrog Therapeutics

In the laboratory, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can seem like magic: derived from differentiated cells, they can then morph into surprisingly good replacements for pancreatic, brain, eye, heart and other cells. Some are being used in clinical trials to treat people with chronic conditions, including diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, that are driven by damage to such cells (see page S8).

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 597, S20-S21 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02627-y

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Stem cells, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Faculty Positions at the Center for Machine Learning Research (CMLR), Peking University

    CMLR's goal is to advance machine learning-related research across a wide range of disciplines.

    Beijing, China

    Center for Machine Learning Research (CMLR), Peking University

  • W 2-Professur für Immunpharmakologie

    Kiel University aims to attract more qualified women to professorships.   The Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology in the Medicine ...

    24118 Kiel

    Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

  • Junior research group leader

    Friedrich Schiller University is a traditional university with a strong research profile rooted in the heart of Germany. As a university covering a...

    07743 Jena

    Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

  • Faculty Position Opportunities at Kavli ITS, UCAS, Beijing

    The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (Kavli ITS) invites highly qualified individuals to apply.

    Beijing

    The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (Kavli ITS), UCAS

  • Principle Investigator

    Talented individuals with a passion for algorithm development and clinical informatics, AI in health sciences, real-world data analytics, AI for dr...

    Shanghai, China

    Intelligent Medicine Institute, Fudan University

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links