In 2016, the Chinese government formally incorporated precision medicine into the 13th Five-Year Plan, which greatly advanced domestic precision medicine research. With progress in medicine and life sciences, regenerative medicine — focused on tissue and organ damage repair — and precision medicine — focused on transforming treatment approaches — are becoming important components of emerging medical fields, while progress in basic stem cell research and clinical translation can provide enormous momentum for development in these fields.
On June 29, 2022, the "Nature Spotlight: Precision Medicine in China" section of the nature spotlight supplement on the Nature website published a featured article online by the team of Professor Cai Cheguo, Chief Scientist at Beike Biotech: Stem cell advances drive better personalized medicine.
Stem cell advances drive better personalized medicine
—— With the mission of advancing precision medicine (one of China's leading stem cell banks)
Collecting and cryopreserving stem cells for future clinical therapy is at the core of the stem cell industry. Since the founding of Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in 2005, the company has earned a reputation as "one of China's leading stem cell banks" and has assembled an excellent and experienced team of stem cell experts. In its storage business, the company aims to bring advanced cell storage services to more families.Storing stem cells involves a series of strict steps, starting from collecting samples at the hospital, through transportation to preparation, until the samples are stored in liquid nitrogen tanks. The entire process is rigorously controlled. The company's Chief Scientist, Professor Cai Cheguo, said: "This complex process requires the participation of many specialized technical personnel and rigorous quality control."According to Professor Cai, "One notable advantage of Beike Biotech's stem cell storage technology is the use of a special freezing medium, which can be stored or transported at room temperature. This eliminates the need for pre-cooling before cell storage, reduces turnaround time, and improves efficiency.""The company's processes for the storage business are extremely rigorous," Professor Cai explained. "We hold around 60 patents related to stem cell preparation and cryopreservation, and treat every stored stem cell sample strictly through approximately 580 standard operating procedures and approximately 740 quality control records. Today, with our better understanding of stem cells, we are fully prepared to apply the knowledge and technology gained in the laboratory to the development of stem cell drugs and to use it to spark greater real-world impact."Professor Cai's research team at Wuhan University focuses on breast organoid research, using in vitro stem cell culture techniques to obtain 3D cultures that exhibit the gene expression characteristics and morphological features of the breast. When Dr. Hu Junyuan, founder of Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd., sought collaboration with Professor Cai, the two scientists proposed a collaborative idea: to develop Patient-Derived Organoid (PDO) models for use as in vitro disease model systems.Patients with malignant tumors often face difficulty selecting therapeutic drugs and treatment plans during clinical care, in part because each patient responds differently to treatment, and physicians need to adjust treatment as it progresses. Now, scientists at Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. are developing an in vitro drug-testing system based on PDO models, which is expected to provide patients with personalized, precise treatment plans in the future."The development of PDO model technology is one example in Beike Biotech's rich technology innovation pipeline. Some candidate disease PDO models will be released by the end of 2022." Professor Cai added: "By building PDO models for various diseases and tissues, and by accumulating findings and technical capabilities in stem cell research, we aim to improve human health. We welcome more like-minded partners to join this industry and serve human health together."Supplement series coverage: https://www.nature.com/collections/dbafabjahe
