Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

In my science fair experiment, I'm reproducing Nephrons from stem cells, but I haven't found at what pH do Nephrons replicated or what nutrients are needed to grow Nephrons?

Hi - what a great topic to study, the differentiation of stem cells into other cell types we need for future treatments! In general, the culture of stem cells is well-documented, so you should be able to find great information doing a google search for "stem cell culture". Any info you find from a companies doing stem cell research and selling their culture media will help you along. The pH is generally neutral (7.2-7.4), with composition including water base, salt buffer, amino acids, protein/carbon source. Stem cells often use a serum-free media, so there are many additional components in the medium to replace the serum. When differentiating, you will add specific factors known to direct the development of a specific cell type. You can search online for this using terms like "sifferentiate stem cells into nephrons" - and get these papers you can look at for more info.

http://www.cirm.ca.gov/our-progress/awa ... on-nephron

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Ad ... ne.0094888

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 9514000849

Let me know what other specific questions come up!
Tonya