Liquid substrates for growing cells on a greater scale

Whether you’re growing cells for use in healthcare, or creating lab-grown meat, the traditional way of growing cells on solid surfaces severely limits your ability to scale up.

Led by Prof Julien Gautrot, Queen Mary researchers have developed a new system comprising functionalised liquid oil that include a protein or peptide that promotes cell adhesion.

Growing cells in oil rather than on a flat dish brings massive potential for scaling up in a cost-effective way:

• It’s versatile, allowing you to tailor the substrate properties to the type of cell you’re growing.
• You can use it for long-term cell culture without needing to detach cells for passaging.
• It’s stable for long-term storage at low cost.
• You can recover cells without enzymatic treatment.
• It’s compatible with continuous flow culture bioreactor systems and downstream bioprocessing and testing.

We’re seeking a commercial partner or investors to help us bring this technology to market.