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Researchers have developed a way to achieve an ultra-high bioelectric signal from human embryonic stem cells using direct current-voltage measurements facilitated by few-layered 2D molybdenum disulfide sheets. This method, which produces cell signals 2 orders of magnitude higher than previous electrical-based detection methods, paves the way for the development of a broadly applicable, fast, and damage-free stem cell detection method capable of identifying pluripotency with virtually any complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits.

For the first time, Singaporean researchers have developed a method using two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (2D-MoS2) sheets to achieve ultra-high bioelectric signals from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) using direct current-voltage measurements.

This method, which achieved a 1.828 mA cell signal, or 2 orders of magnitude higher than previous electrical-based detection methods, will pave the way for the development of a broadly applicable, fast, and damage-free stem cell detection method capable of identifying pluripotency with virtually any complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits, the researchers say.

“Stem cells are promising starting materials for currently untreated and life-threatening diseases. However, they are limited by readily available methods that can monitor stem cell pluripotency to ensure therapeutic safety. Our method is able to enhance native cell signals feasible for commercialization to ensure therapeutic safety, without altering native cell characteristics.” says Sophia Chan, a PhD Scholar at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Chan is the first author of a recent ACS Applied Bio Materials paper describing the new technique. Her fellow authors are Agency for Science, Technology and Research research fellow Yaw Sing Tan, Nanyang Technological University research fellow Kan-Xing Wu, Nanyang Technological University assistant professor Christine Cheung, and Singapore University of Technology and Design assistant professor Desmond Loke.

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