The advent of iPS technology is revolutionizing biomedical science and human medicine. With this disruptive technology, it is now possible to model a wide array of human diseases in the laboratory and to dissect the mechanisms underlying these diseases. Disease models based on iPS has enabled the high throughput screening of drugs and therapeutic agents for the intervention of diseases.

Importantly, iPS has made both autologous and allogenic stem cell therapy a distinct possibility now and indeed, clinical trials for iPS-based cell therapy have already begun in Japan. The ability of iPS to self-organize into organoids – three-dimensional miniaturized versions of human organs in culture – has greatly enhanced their applications in biomedical science.

Organoids provide a more physiologically relevant experimental model compared to monolayer cultures as they are able to recapitulate in part, if not all, of the complexity of multicellular organs. Given the enormous importance and increasing indispensability of iPS and organoid technologies in biomedical research and translational medicine, LSI has set up the iPS/Organoid Core Facility to provide these enabling tools to the research community at NUS and NUHS.

Located within the NUS campus, the iPS/Organoid Core Facility offers the distinct advantage of proximity to the investigators, facilitating face-to-face discussions for project planning as well as customization of the various services according to the specific needs of investigators. This proximity also facilitates the ease of transfer of materials, reducing both costs and risks to the quality of the materials.

Fees will be charged at a nominal amount mainly for cost recovery purposes to make the services affordable to as many investigators as possible. Derivation of iPS will be performed using foot-print free techniques and a compendium of characterization options will be made available to investigators.

To enquire more about the services at Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) & Organoid, please contact Dr. Chai Chou at phscc@nus.edu.sg.