Growing human embryonic stem cells in the lab is no small feat. Culturing the finicky, shape-shifting cells is labor intensive and, in some ways, more art than exact science.

Now, however, a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports the development of a fully defined culture system that promises a more uniform and, for cells destined for therapy, safer product. Read More

“Building blocks” containing gels turn cells into different types of tissue.

If embryonic stem cells are left to grow in a tissue-culture dish, they will differentiate more or less at random, into a mixture of different types of cells.  Researchers at Harvard – MIT hope to make cardiac tissue by stacking blocks containing cells that have turned into muscle next to blocks containing blood vessels. Read More