Empowered Patient Podcast

 Ryan Clarke, Co-Founder and CTO of Syntax Bio, is focused on solving manufacturing challenges in producing stem cell-derived therapies, specifically the process of stem cell differentiation. The Cellgorithm platform was designed to make differentiation an engineering problem by using a modified form of CRISPR to turn genes on and off in a specific, controlled sequence, reducing processing time from months to days and resulting in cost savings. One goal is to use AI and machine learning to build models capable of predicting optimal gene regulation sequences accelerating the discovery of new differentiation protocols and treatments for degenerative diseases. Ryan explains, "The key problem that we are focused on applies to stem cell-derived cell therapies. And so, just for a little bit of context setting, we use induced pluripotent stem cells or IPS cells. And about 20 years ago, when these were first derived, everybody was very excited because this is the platform where you could then have an infinite supply