Hitachi Ltd. and Kyoto University's iPS cell research institute will launch a project to compare induced pluripotent stem cells generated from patients with diseases and from healthy volunteers to help develop new drugs and learn more about disease mechanisms.
The project, expected to start later this month, will utilize iPS cells to replicate symptoms of illness and genetic mutation outside patients' bodies, officials said Monday.
Hitachi will collect blood cell samples during checkups at its health care center from roughly 100 employees and their family members who have granted consent and have a lower risk of contracting diseases.
The Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application will store iPS cells derived from the blood cells, along with data such as age and gender.
The center doesn't have enough iPS cell data on healthy people, and Hitachi agreed to cooperate in soliciting cell donors.
The iPS cell comparison project is expected to contribute to understanding the detailed causes of illnesses as well as the development of new therapies and pharmaceuticals.