Automated generation of human stem cell clones by Image-Activated Cell Selection (IACS™)

Clonal analysis represents the gold standard for assaying the differentiation potential of stem cells in vitro. Here we describe Elektra™, a system that permits efficient spotting of single cell clones in a coculture paradigm. Joining their expertise, Evotec Technologies and LIFE & BRAIN showed that neural precursors derived from human embryonic stem (ES) cells survive single cell spotting and continue to generate individual clones. This technology should be particularly useful for the high-throughput clonal analyses increasingly required for human stem cell applications.