From stem cells to tiny organs—pioneering advanced testing models
Written by Shanzeh Mumtaz Ahmed, RARE Revolution insider
Interview with Dr Kate Cameron, founder of Cytochroma
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Derived from pluripotent stem cells Cytochroma’s tiny organs are animal free, unlimited in supply and differentiation capacity. Dr Kate Cameron, founder of Cytochroma talks us through their pioneering approach
“TINY ORGANS. BIG IMPACT.”
That’s the slogan of Cytochroma, a Scotland-based tissue engineering company whose founder, Dr Kate Cameron, has created something new from standard laboratory shelf products. With her unique concoction as the foundation, Kate has developed a robust, scalable, and animal-free stem cell differentiation process.
Kate completed her BSc in Reproductive Biology from the University of Edinburgh in 2007. She stayed on to do her PhD in stem cell research which she completed in 2012. She spent six years as a post doctorate, focusing on making liver cells for regenerative medicine purpose. She began looking for a new challenge, decided to enter a business plan competition and won! That’s where the story of Cytochroma began.
Founded in 2017, Kate’s company primarily works with liver (hepatocytes) and heart (cardiac fibroblasts) cells, creating models for metabolic disease and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), respectively.
These conditions are fairly common, as Kate explains. “For example, the rates of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and its aggressive counterpart, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), are expected to rise to 41% and 8%, respectively, by 2050.1,2 For HCM, prevalence in the UK is about 1 in 500.3”
MAFLD is a group of liver diseases caused by a buildup of fat in the tissue, the more advanced stage of which is called MASH.4,5 In HCM, the muscular wall of your heart (the myocardium) becomes thickened and stiff, making it harder to pump blood.3
From stem cell to tiny organ—how does it all work?
Induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs. These are cells derived from adult tissue which are turned back into stem cells that have the capacity to then make any cell type in the human body. Kate and her team use this method to generate different cell types that can be combined to make complex mini organs.
It’s a customisable system, too. The company can “edit” the stem cells to introduce a genetic mutation, or they can add induce a disease state in cells that were originally healthy—making, for example, diseased liver tissue. You can even add blood vessels back into the mix.
“Because it’s got all the different cell types, it is more representative for testing,” says Kate. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies can use this “more representative” tissue environment to test for safety and efficacy, aiming to get a greater insight into what they might expect when they run clinical trials.
Making science more representative
In addition to providing this “better model system that’s a step between a cell and an organ”, Kate also provides something else that’s somewhat lacking in scientific research—diversity.
Cytochroma has a library of cell donors that come from diverse backgrounds, including Native American, Asian, African, and European. “Most clinical trials predominantly feature Caucasian men. Our models represent men and women from different genetic backgrounds. That means we can look at gender- and ethnicity-specific effects for different diseases.”
Implications for rare disease
The beauty of this system is that “it’s like LEGO building blocks,” says Kate. “All you need are the basic cell types which can be combined to form lots of different tissues.” Although the company started with the heart and liver, they are planning to potentially expand their portfolio to the lungs, kidneys, muscles and even brain neurons.
This has great potential to support in testing therapies for rare diseases. “You can effectively model the disease in a dish with cells derived from the patient themselves,” Kate explains. With automation, there is even the capacity to review thousands of already available and approved compounds and see if they could be repurposed for rare diseases.
Theoretically, the process is simple.
Step 1: Consent. This is to ensure the person whose cells are being collected understands how their cells will be used for research and commercial purposes.
Step 2: Tissue collection. This is likely blood.
Step 3: Creating the relevant cell type to study their specific rare disease. This could, for example, be brain tissue for a neurodegenerative disease or skin tissue for a dermal condition.
The ability to create mini organs from donated tissue is especially useful for rare diseases since it can often be challenging to find enough people to enrol in clinical trials or to find suitable models to study certain rare diseases. For example, the lack of a model to study the role of the CFTR gene in cystic fibrosis has been a challenge but using stem cells to create a human lung model within a petri dish has allowed researchers to better understand the disease.6
Potential partnerships
Although the technology is theoretically available, it is yet to be scaled into use within rare disease. Unfortunately, like any personalised medicine approach—taking your cells and turning them into other types of cells—is costly.
To make it scalable, it requires funding which Kate and her team hope will come in the form of investment from pharmaceutical companies, grants, and charities. They hope to achieve more important collaborations with interested partners, such as Alzheimer’s UK and the Michael J Fox Foundation, who in the future could help fund the development of cell lines for rare diseases.
Cytochroma—looking to the future
Kate emphasises; “I am really passionate about delivering a quality product I could stand behind.” Over the past few years, the major focus of Cytochroma has been in their research and development. They have focused on creating and selling their product but also hope to use their scientific model to discover new drugs directly and in partnerships.
“It’s not just been a rush to market. It’s about delivering real impact through amazing science.”
To learn more about Cytochroma and its potential application to your research, visit the websitehereor contact Kate at info@cytochroma.org
Connect with Kate
References
[1] Alliance FL. The Future of MASLD and MASH: What the Numbers Tell Us. Fatty Liver Alliance. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://fattyliver.ca/blog/f/the-future-of-masld-and-mash-what-the-numbers-tell-us
[2] Le P, Tatar M, Dasarathy S, et al. Estimated Burden of Metabolic Dysfunction–Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in US Adults, 2020 to 2050. JAMA Network Open. 2025;8(1):e2454707. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.54707
[3] Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). British Heart Foundation. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy
[4] What Is MASLD? Cleveland Clinic. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22437-non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease
[5] Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis: What It Is, Causes. Cleveland Clinic. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22988-nonalcoholic-steatohepatitis
[6] Kaufmann P, Pariser AR, Austin C. From scientific discovery to treatments for rare diseases – the view from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences – Office of Rare Diseases Research. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2018;13(1). doi:10.1186/s13023-018-0936-x
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