Qkine is celebrating five amazing years of protein innovation! Everyone here at Qkine is proud of the journey we have taken and the state-of-the-art proteins we have manufactured since starting in 2016. We look forward to continuing to work with our wonderful customers and collaborators and to supporting new sectors and scientists in the future.
how it all started
Qkine was founded in 2016 by scientists Catherine Elton and Marko Hyvönen. Their motivation was simple: to become the source of the highest quality growth factors available and add a dose of growth factor innovation. Qkine began as a spin-out company from Marko’s biochemistry lab at the University of Cambridge. Marko had been providing growth factors to the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute for over a decade, helping to establish stem cell culture protocols with global impact. As researchers moved around the world, they wanted to keep using Marko’s proteins. He combined forces with Catherine Elton to establish Qkine and do more to help the stem cell sector. Five years on, we have a growing catalogue of products and a network of superb collaborators, customers and distributors.
the values at our core
Qkine was founded on a set of core values that continue to shape how we operate now and into the future. Above all we are here to support our customers, to assist them in reaching their scientific aims, and to ensure they are never let down by unreliable growth factors.
then to now
- We started with core technology to make exceptionally pure Activin A; now we offer 35 essential growth factors for stem cell and organoid culture and our R&D team are working hard to add more.
- 30% of our product portfolio are unique – such as the first true animal-free TGFβ1 and tag-free thermostable FGF2-G3.
- Our new pioneering protein range makes the most of academic protein engineering, so inventive science doesn’t languish in the back of the freezer.
couldn’t have done it without you!
We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of all our amazing customers and collaborators! Qkine started because we recognised that the quality of protein reagents could be improved, and we know the effect this can have on research. We are proud to set a new benchmark for protein purity and we love hearing positive feedback from the scientists who choose Qkine!
That is a spin out from a Cambridge biochemistry lab. Really nice people!
— Stanley E Strawbridge (@StanStrawbridge) November 11, 2021
Best supplier is @QkineBio. Cambridge Uni startup that supplies LIF to many stem cell labs there, including Austin Smith’s before move. I think the initial reagents all from Austin. We’ve tested batches in London & it’s excellent. Other good cytokines too (they don’t pay me!)
— Harry Leitch (@HGLeitch) October 5, 2021
If anyone is looking for a reasonably priced source for KGF, would recommend you check out @QkineBio https://t.co/emJGyBcaOx
— Francis Lynn (@nictitate) October 27, 2021
forging ahead
Our ambition is to use our science to have a positive impact on stem cell science, and therefore on human health and wellbeing. A pressing innovation challenge for growth factor manufacturers will be to meet the needs (no pun intended) of the cultivated meat and cellular agriculture sector. Adapting growth factor proteins for optimal activity outside of the physiological niche will be critical as we explore how to develop a major component of our future food system sustainably for future generations and ultimately impact the health of the planet. This is the sort of science we thrive on!
Best regards,
Catherine (CEO and Founder)
let’s celebrate!
As our way of saying thank you for choosing Qkine for your growth factors, our customers will receive free shipping on all of our products until the end of January.
We also have small gifts for our UK customers as we’ve sadly not met as many people in person this year. Take a break from growing cells and grow a sensitive plant Mimosa pudica! If you would like to join our lab #mymimosa growathon, and are based in the UK, please request a seed and growing pack on our website. Please tweet us with your progress @qkinebio #mymimosa – there may be a prize!
We will be continuing to celebrate our anniversary throughout the year, to keep up to date with all the anniversary promotions please sign up to receive our newsletter.
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