Dr. Nicolas Rivron is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. His group recreates embryonic development using mammalian stem cells in a dish to better understand the encoded principles of self-organization. He talks about building human blastoid models and using them to study implantation. He also discusses differences in development between mice and humans, trophectoderm stem cells, and an ethical framework for embryo models.

Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease – A Phase I trial showed safety, tolerability, and an improvement in dyskinesia symptoms.

CRISPR for Sickle Cell Disease – CRISPR-Cas9 disruption of the HBG1 and HBG2 gene promoters was an effective strategy for induction of fetal hemoglobin.

Towards a Universal CAR T Cell Therapy for Blood Cancers – Epitope-edited CAR T cells were effective against patient-derived acute myeloid leukemia, B cell lymphoma, and acute T cell leukemia.

Transient-Naive-Treatment Reprogramming – A new reprogramming strategy produces hiPSCs with similar epigenetic and functional profiles to human embryonic stem cells.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Nicolas Rivron

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