Blog

Reflections on the dynamic ISSCR 2024 workshop on Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research including recommendations for growth factor supply chains for raw (ancillary materials) for cell therapy and ATMP manufacture.

Commercial sources of recombinant human GDF15 protein, in particular those purified from mammalian expression, are frequently contaminated with trace amounts of TGFβ and related proteins. These trace contaminants cause misleading experimental results due to the picomolar or even femtomolar EC50s of this family of cytokines.  Please be cautious with your source of recombinant GDF15 protein.

Specialist bioactive growth factor protein manufacturer Qkine today announced a new partnership with StemCultures, a life sciences company dedicated to developing innovative reagents that enhance the quality and efficiency of cell growth and differentiation in culture.

The manufacture of cell and gene therapy products and tissue-engineered regenerative medicine products often requires recombinant proteins such as growth factors and cytokines. These are classified as raw or ancillary materials ie. culture media components or reagents that are not intended to be included in the final product.

We've recently fully transitioned to an animal origin-free (AOF) manufacturing process for our recombinant proteins. This shift ensures the highest standards of safety, purity, and sustainability in bioproduction. By eliminating all animal-derived components, including heparin-based purification columns, we’re supporting ethical and cruelty-free biomanufacturing. Learn more about our journey to 100% AOF.

Organoids are exciting models that are rapidly becoming a hopeful platform for many medical advances such as drug screening and disease modeling. However, due to a lack of vascularization, they have limitations for future applications. This review blog summarizes several practical methods for successful organoid vascularization to date.

Cultivated meat is a nascent industry with a developing regulatory framework, with distinct regional differences. There are however some shared themes across regulatory frameworks and best practice. Within the UK and EU, cultivated meat is considered a novel food and as such falls under the scope of Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2283. In response to this classification, the Food Safety Agency commissioned an internal report into the potential hazards to the consumer associated with the production and consumption of cultured meat. Following a literature review of 154 papers discussing cultured meat as a technology, themes that apply to growth factors have been highlighted and discussed.

Complex 3D liver models that more closely mimic human biology open opportunities for improved drug and vaccine discovery for malaria and related parasitic diseases.

Watch or listen to Catherine discuss the company’s innovations for the market, and the wider challenges for the sector on the latest episode of The Future of Protein Production podcast.

In our latest blog, Alice Taylor, our Distributor Manager, shares her experience and journey at Qkine.

In this personal blog piece, Sveva Bottini from the Bertero Lab in Turin, shares her experiences of ISSCR 2023 in Boston. During the event, Qkine was proud to co-sponsor a poster abstract by Sveva on ‘Optimization of growth factors for human pluripotent stem cell culture in basal 8 media.’

A Q&A with Dr. Andy Day, Head of Product Development and Manufacture at Qkine Qkine is entering the next phase […]