Lecture | Tuesday Talk
How to make human cells
- Date
- Tuesday 8 December 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- CM.1.26
What if we could make any human cell we want? We could use these cells to develop new treatments for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Scientists can already turn stem cells into many different cell types, but some remain remarkably difficult to produce reliably. The challenge is not simply finding the right ingredients — it is understanding the rules that tell a cell what to become.
In this edition of Tuesday Talks, Micha Drukker will introduce Project Open Genesis, an ambitious effort to uncover these rules. By combining biology with data science and AI, the project brings together knowledge from thousands of experiments to understand how stem cells differentiate and to predict better ways of generating human cell types in the lab.
From literature to predictions
Open Genesis aims to bring together the vast body of literature and data on stem cell differentiation into a unified, quantitative and computable resource. By combining this knowledge with biology, data science and AI, the project seeks to identify patterns and rules that govern how stem cells develop into different cell types. These insights could then be used to predict which routes are most likely to generate specific human cells reliably — including cell types that are currently difficult to produce in the lab.
This project could have major implications for biomedical research. Producing the right types of nerve cells, for example, could help researchers better understand neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and test potential treatments on these lab-grown human cells. For other types of diseases, being able to produce specialised human cells could similarly provide better models for studying diseases, testing new medicines, and exploring ways of repairing damaged tissue through regenerative medicine.
Join this Tuesday Talk
Everyone who is interested in this edition's topic is welcome. Please let us know if you are attending.
Register (not yet possible to register)Programme
The programme of the Tuesday Talk is:
| 15.45 hrs | Take a seat |
| 16.00 hrs | Tuesday Talk |
| 17.00 hrs | Drinks |
About the speaker
Micha Drukker is Professor at Leiden University’s Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR). His research focuses on how human cells develop, using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to create models for human disease and drug development, with a particular focus on neurodegeneration. His lab works with stem cell and organoid models, single-cell analysis and genetic engineering.
About the Tuesday Talks
The Tuesday Talks are Leiden Science’s monthly dose of research inspiration from our staff, for our staff and all others curious minds. Every second Tuesday of the month from 16:00 hrs till 17:00 hrs, drinks and meet up afterwards till 18.00 hrs.