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Researchers at the synthetic biology company Syntax Bio report a new way to dramatically speed up how human stem cells are turned into specialised cell types. Writing in Science Advances, the team describes a CRISPR-based platform called Cellgorithm that allows scientists to precisely control when specific genes switch on inside stem cells. The study was co-authored by Syntax Bio co-founder and chief technology officer Ryan Clarke.
Traditionally, stem cell differentiation is a slow and delicate process that can take months, requiring repeated additions of growth factors and carefully timed environmental changes. Small variations in timing or reagents often lead to inconsistent results, making experiments hard to reproduce and difficult to scale for industrial or clinical use. This variability is a major bottleneck in regenerative medicine and cell therapy development.
Cellgorithm tackles this problem by encoding developmental instructions directly into DNA. Instead of manually guiding cells step by step, a single genetic “program” activates genes in the correct sequence, mimicking natural development automatically. Using this approach, the researchers showed that stem cells can be reliably guided into a wide range of cell types in days to weeks rather than months.
The implications could be significant for both patients and the biotech industry. Faster, more reproducible cell production could accelerate research and lower the cost of developing stem cell–based treatments for conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, and vision loss. Syntax Bio is already working with biopharmaceutical partners, reporting that one differentiation process was shortened from four months to less than two weeks using the Cellgorithm platform.
