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In a landmark shift for biomedical research, the FDA is phasing out its long-standing requirement for animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibodies and other drugs. Announced in an April 10, 2025 statement, this move reflects growing confidence in advanced non-animal models—such as orga

The ability to isolate, purify, and enrich specific cell populations has transformed biological research, clinical diagnostics, and therapeutic development. Over the centuries, cell separation methods have evolved from rudimentary techniques to sophisticated, high-throughput systems that enable rese

As we look to the future, I’m excited to share our vision for LevitasBio and the impact we aim to achieve in life science research. Our journey began with a simple yet profound mission: to solve one of the fundamental bottlenecks in life science and empower scientists with the tools they need to unc

As the new year begins, researchers worldwide are setting goals to push their science further than ever before. While the typical resolutions around publishing more, writing grants, or networking may already be on your list, we’re here to propose a new approach: focus on your sample preparation work

Xenograft models are used extensively in cancer research to simulate the disease’s progression, behavior, and response to treatment. They involve transplanting human cancer cells into immunocompromised mice, providing a controlled environment to study human cancer1. Depending on the research objecti

Sample preparation is a critical step in any cell-based workflow, and its success is pivotal in determining the outcomes of downstream processes such as cell growth for patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, CRISPR transduction efficiency, single-cell RNA sequencing, proteomics, and functional assa

Cell-based assays play a central role in the development of safe and effective cell therapies. They serve as methods for quantifying the potency of cell therapies, providing readouts for a broad spectrum of cell therapy characteristics, and are essential throughout the process from initial screening

Cell therapy involves the transfer of viable autologous or allogeneic cells into a patient’s body to replace diseased or damaged cells, modulate cell function, or assist in removing disease-causing or dysfunctional cells1. Cell therapies, encompassing both stem-cell and non-stem-cell therapies, have

As a scientist, standardization and appropriately controlling your experiments are vitally important to ensure the questions addressed within those experiments can be answered. We know that too many variables can cause inconclusive results, preventing sample-to-sample comparability. Cell therapy res

Not getting caught up in the beauty of San Diego in late fall is next to impossible, but I found it to be considerably easier when presented with science that might one day save my life. Last week, Oxford Global hosted the Biomarkers and Immuno conference, bringing some of the most influential and p

The technological advancements that we have witnessed in biotechnology in the last 20 years have been incredible. After sequencing the first few genomes, fast forward to current days and initiatives such as Tabula Sapiens and the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program with goals to atlas all healthy cells

Flow cytometry sorting is widely used to isolate specific cell populations based on the unique set of proteins on each cell’s surface. While there are many advantages to flow cytometry, there can also be challenges. 1. Limited resolution: The method (detection of fluorescent excitation) used to iden

New Product Line Delivers Major Advance in Immunology Research MENLO PARK, CA – LevitasBio, Inc. (levitasbio.com), a premier end-to-end sample processing and cellular analysis provider to the life sciences market, unveils a suite of LeviSelect™ cell depletion and enrichment kits for immunology resea

Single-cell analysis has become a key driver of scientific discovery. The move from studying populations of cells to studying single-cells has powered a more detailed and accurate understanding of cellular processes – and fueled numerous advances in immunology, oncology, and neuroscience. However, t

Asking cells to come back to life after cryopreservation is like asking your teenage son or daughter to be out of bed before 10 AM on a Saturday morning. Chances are you will have to coax, bribe, charm, or physically wriggle them back to life…and even then, you may be conversing with someone operati

In science, as in many other disciplines, seeing is believing. Fluorescent cell staining is a common and reliable technique to visualize many different aspects of a cell’s state. There are many stains which can report if a cell is viable, dead or dying, or expressing a particular surface protein or

Pursuing cell analysis often means trying to give your target cells a ride with the least turbulence: a smooth and steady experience that leaves your cell population calm, relaxed, and as close to their native state as possible. For some tissues, this is a challenging thing to achieve. Some cells mu

Reduce the Garbage (aka Noise) in Your scRNA-seq Data to Ensure Meaningful Data Single-cell transcriptional data sets can illuminate the path to that rare, elusive cell type lurking in the shadows, undiscovered by bulk sequencing, waiting to stand in the spotlight. To optimize the return of unique p

Dissociated cells from solid tumor samples (DTCs) are a critical source of valuable, actionable information about the fundamentals of cancer biology. Understanding the makeup of the tumor and its resident phenotypes leads researchers to new discoveries, and can lead to meaningful, targeted therapeut

On January 25, 2022, Ernesto Diaz-Flores, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Oncology Department at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), presented a webinar entitled “Interrogating cancer drivers via CRISPR: Mutant TP53 as a therapeutic target in hypodiploid B-cell acute lymphoblast

Amy Hamilton is an Applications Support Manager who spent years in the single-cell space, before deciding to embark on a new adventure with LevitasBio. She provides application and field support to our EMEA team and customers. We recently chatted with Amy to learn more about her background and what

New Protocol Data suggest that cell type, cell culture conditions, passage number, concentrations of stimuli, timing, and other factors have major implications for studies of Interleukin-11 (IL11) signaling in vitro. Primary cells, in particular, such as hepatic stellate cells, fibroblasts, and hepa

As a Senior Scientist at the NCI Cancer Genomics Research Lab, Seth Brodie was one of the first people to work with the beta version of the LeviCell system. He was so impressed by the technology’s potential that he took a position with LevitasBio and now serves as Associate Director of Research and

Culturing Hepatocytes: A Comprehensive Review of the State of the Art In vivo, hepatocytes are highly differentiated cells residing in a complex microenvironment. In vitro though the cells quickly lose hepatic phenotype and function. Writing in a recent edition of APL Bioengineering, authors Jose M.

A recently published review that proposes enhancements to current dissociation protocols, emphasizes the criticality of the “time element” when it comes to this key step in sample preparation. Writing in the November edition of Trends in Cell Biology (“Stress Relief: Emerging Methods to Mitigate Dis

The LeviCell platform from LevitasBio introduces a completely new approach to cell separation that revolutionizes cell enrichment and characterization. Within the LeviCell system, samples such as mammalian cells, bacteria or even viruses are separated using magnetic levitation in a process that is f

Cells are the basic functional unit of life. Cells of specialized type come together to form a tissue, whereas tissues that perform a specific function compose an organ. Cell culture plays a significant role in studying basic cell biology, cell cycle mechanisms, specialized cell function, cell–cell

Cellular density, defined here as the mass of a cell per unit volume and typically expressed in units of grams per mL or grams per cubic centimeter, is an intrinsic property of a cell. It is generally thought to be a highly regulated property of a given cell type, as cells maintain tight control ove

New Tissue Dissociation Workflow for Single Cell Analysis The complexity of dissociating complex tissue into single cells Isolating cells for cancer diagnostics is critical if personalized medicine is to flourish. However, dissociating complex tissues into single cells while maintaining cellular int

Tumor Dissociation of Highly Viable Cell Suspensions in Breast Cancer Research Overview – Incidence of Breast Cancer National Breast Cancer Awareness Month started October 1st. This annual spotlight serves as a reminder that breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Only lu

Oocytes are immature eggs that develop to maturity within the follicle. Granulosa cells (GC) provide the physical support and microenvironment required for the developing oocyte. These granulosa cells form a single layer around the oocytes in the primordial ovarian follicle and advance to form a mul

In 2009, Sato et al. study reported the establishment of the first 3D intestinal organoid culture derived from adult stem cells. Since then, many subsequent organoid protocols for other organs have appeared and are being widely used. These 3D in vitro cultures provide a powerful tool for a broad swa

Enhanced CRISPR-based Technology Speeds Identification of Genes Involved in Health and Disease Today’s edition of the journal Science (August 19th; see “MIC-Drop: A platform for large-scale in vivo CRISPR screens”) reports a CRISPR-based method that can rapidly evaluate the functions of hundreds of

Hepatocyte Isolation and Purification – A Worldwide Research Priority The largest solid organ in the body is the liver. Made up primarily (i.e., at least 80%) of hepatocytes of various types, the liver is the site of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the fourth ranked cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

Single Cell RNA-Seq versus Single Nuclei RNA-Seq: Accounts from the Lab Both single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) and single nucleus or nuclei RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) are relatively new techniques – both have varying applicability across tissue/sample types, uncertainties arising from technical issues and bi

Cell sorting and separation technologies are ubiquitous in molecular biology labs. But their popularity occurred despite serious limitations. Here, we look at some of the major challenges in conventional cell analysis tools. Built-In Restrictions Flow cytometry is one of the simplest and least expen

LevitasBio presents at the annual ISHI on the Use of Automated Magnetic Levitation Technology in Sexual Assault Forensics At the 2019 International Symposium on Human Identification, the LevitasBio team presented on the use of its novel Magnetic levitation technology for label-free separation of cel

In modern history there have been two major technology revolutions that have changed how we look at individual cells. DNA sequencing — which became effective for single-cell applications with the advent of next-generation sequencing platforms — is incredibly powerful, but it is also expensive and de

The LevitasBio magnetic levitation technology for cellular analysis is based in part on remarkable scientific advances from academia. One of the earliest reports on the approach came from researchers at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. Their publication, “Magnetic levitation of single