Thermo Fisher Showcases New Product Innovations and Best Practices to Optimize Stem Cell Discoveries at ISSCR 2014

The latest advances in innovative technologies designed to streamline the entire stem cell research workflow – from pluripotent cell engineering, culturing, differentiation and characterization to cryopreservation and storage – will be showcased this week during the 12th annual International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) meeting (Thermo Scientific booth #628, Life Technologies booth #829). 

Thermo Fisher Scientific will host a series of customer and thought leader presentations on topics ranging from the use of Sendai virus reprogramming technology for rapid development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) for drug development applications, to industrializing pluripotent stem cells and novel platforms for culturing cells in suspension. The speakers will share new innovations being applied in labs at Harvard University, Cedar-Sinai Medical Center and Saitama Medical University. 

“Access to leading-edge tools that are designed to seamlessly work in combination with each other is critical for our customers to drive new discoveries,” said Chris Armstrong, Ph.D., vice president and general manager, cell biology, for Thermo Fisher. “We’re proud to offer a deep portfolio of technologies that addresses the entire pluripotent stem cell research continuum to enable novel applications in drug discovery and human disease studies.” 

New product innovations at ISSCR this year include: 

• When used in combination, the new Lipofectamine 3000 and Epi5 Episomal iPSC Reprogramming Vector reagents demonstrate robust transfection and development of iPSCs and eliminate the need for electroporation, reduce cytotoxicity for more stable, physiologically relevant iPSCs; 

• The new PSC Cardiomyocyte Differentiation Kit is designed to deliver rapid differentiation of iPSCs to contracting cardiomyocytes in as few as eight days using a simple three-step process; 

• The new Molecular Probes Human Cardiomyocyte Immunocytochemistry and PSC Live Staining Kit is one of nine different characterization kits designed to deliver convenience with all the necessary reagents in a single box to enable superior imaging for fluorescence microscopy-based analysis of live or fixed cells; 

• To elevate stem cell differentiation, the new Thermo Scientific Nunclon Sphera non-adherent cell culture surface optimizes three-dimensional spheroid formation designed to allow researchers to grow cells in suspension with consistency and reproducibility; and 

• Also on display will include Gibco Essential 8 Medium for growing human iPSCs, updated analysis software for the TaqMan hPSC Scorecard Panel (qPCR-based stem cell characterization), Thermo Scientific Nalgene RapidFlow filtration designed to prevent cell culture contamination, Thermo Scientific cryopreservation consumables, and Fisher BioServices ultra cold-chain logistics for cellular therapeutics clinical trials and commercialization.