Qkine’s Post

Today we are exhibiting at the Babraham Research Campus Supplier Day. Our team are on stand to answer any questions you may have about our animal-free growth factors and cytokines that are helping to support a range of exciting and innovative research applications. If you are attending the event today, stop by our stand and play our game for a chance to win a range of prizes. A special mention to our colleague Laura who is attending her first event for Qkine today.

We are excited to welcome visitors to tour our facilities on Wednesday, June 12th, as part of the Cambridge Wide Open Day! The Cambridge Wide Open Day offers a unique insight into the city’s world-renowned science and technology. Last year, it welcomed over 600 visitors, including scientists, techies, people working across different sectors, and residents, to explore more than 100 organisations that opened their doors and delivered diverse talks, pitches, tours, demos, clinics, and presentations. At Qkine, you will have the opportunity to take a lab tour, hear a presentation from our Head of R&D and Collaborations, and enjoy coffee and cakes. Register here to visit us - https://zurl.co/DzQ5 #CambridgeWideOpenDay #CWOD #LifeSciences #Biotech #Innovation

A huge challenge in understanding human early embryo cell fate is due to limited access and ethical concerns. Recent research, however, from José C. R. Silva's lab at Guangzhou National Laboratory, drawing from single-cell sequencing, suggests a conserved lineage specification process between human and mouse embryos. Blastoids, emerging models for early embryo development, generated solely from hnPSCs, offer insights into blastocyst formation without altering culture conditions. Self-renewing human naïve pluripotent stem cells (hnPSCs) spontaneously form blastoids in 3D culture, mimicking early human blastocysts. This process, mediated by the GSK3 inhibitor IM-12 in 5iLAF medium, involves upregulation of oxidative phosphorylation genes. hnPSCs dedifferentiate into E5 embryo-like intermediates, expressing SOX2/OCT4 and GATA6, which specify trophoblast fate by day 3, coinciding with blastoid formation. This was a fantastic paper to read as it is clear how this spontaneous blastoid formation highlights the importance of culture conditions and provides a new platform to study human embryo development in vitro, potentially reshaping our understanding of hnPSCs and embryo development. Read the full paper featuring human LIF and Activin A from Qkine - https://zurl.co/bWfk #StemCells #3DCulture #Pluripotency #Organoids #Research

Cellular agriculture has the potential to transform food production and impact the health and well-being of future generations. Our latest application note highlights the importance of species-specific growth factors for producing bovine and porcine cultivated meat and fat. Key findings include: 🔹Optimized cell culture media is essential for efficient cell growth and maturation. 🔹Species-matched bioactive proteins are recommended to improve efficacy, regulatory approval, and consumer acceptance. 🔹Collaborative efforts are underway to develop and characterize high-quality growth factors for bovine and porcine cell cultures. This research is paving the way for sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective cellular agriculture. Learn more - https://zurl.co/IO7p #CultivatedMeat #CellularAgriculture #Sustainability #FoodInnovation

The latest episode from The Stem Cell Report podcast is now live! In this episode, Martin Pera is joined by leading experts in neurogenesis and cell therapy for spinal cord injury, Hideyuki Okano, MD, PhD, and Yusuke Saijo, MD. Together, they discuss their latest Stem Cell Report article, showing promising results on promoting synapse formation through ex vivo gene therapy for motor function recovery in spinal cord injuries. Listen to this podcast here - https://zurl.co/5bVS #ISSCR #StemCell #ScienceResearch International Society for Stem Cell Research

We're Hiring! 📢 We are recruiting protein scientists and manufacturing technicians to join our busy team. Help us to raise the standard in bioactive protein manufacturing and innovation, by working on the development and production of complex proteins. We believe in nurturing our team, empowering individuals, and working flexibly. We do this while exceeding the expectations of our customers and collaborators by focusing on delivering the best service, scientific insight, and product quality. Find out more and apply here: https://zurl.co/huFG #Hiring #Recruitment

Join Qkine and over 4000 scientists from around the world at International Society for Stem Cell Research 2024 in Hamburg to be part of the best and brightest stem cell event of the year. The ISSCR meeting is the most comprehensive gathering in stem cell research and a hub for discovery, collaboration and innovation in the field. Visit our team on stand #1009 to learn more about how our portfolio of animal-free bioactive proteins can enhance your stem cell research. You will also have the chance to play our on stand game to win prizes. For your chance to win an exclusive Qkine goody bag, sign up for our monthly newsletter before June 30th 2024 here: https://zurl.co/6DVr

It has been a pleasure to read about the intricate dance of signaling coordination between the epiblast, trophectoderm, and hypoblast during early human embryonic development in this recent publication from the lab of Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at the Caltech, University of Cambridge. Using human embryos and stem cell models (with Qkine Activin A), the research reveals NODAL dependency in anterior hypoblast specification, contrasting roles of BMP in mouse and human anterior signaling center maintenance, and the importance of NOTCH signaling in human epiblast survival. Comparative analysis highlights conserved and species-specific factors driving embryonic development. Specifically, NODAL, BMP, and NOTCH play crucial roles in anterior hypoblast formation, with signaling dynamics changing significantly post-implantation. The fantastic research underscores the complexity of signaling pathways during implantation and emphasizes the importance of further investigations to elucidate their roles comprehensively. These findings clearly contribute to understanding early human embryonic development and provide insights for improving stem cell-derived embryo-like models. Read the full paper here - https://zurl.co/XE30 Find out more about Qkine Activin A - https://zurl.co/P45v #StemCells #Research