{"podcast":{"title":"Mendelspod Podcast","slug":"mendelspod-podcast-742570","podcast_index_feed_id":742570,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1880068.rss","website_url":"https://www.mendelspod.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1880068/5bb25823a5924e02541adbfe80ce5c07.jpg","author":"Theral Timpson","episode_count":556,"summary":"The 21st is the Century of Biology. A radical advancement in the knowledge of basic biology and human disease is transforming our world. We interview the heroes beneath the headlines.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-26T06:20:16.118421+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mendelspod-podcast-742570"},"episode":{"title":"A Simple Sponge, a Big Shift in Cell Therapy with Yev Brudno, UNC","slug":"a-simple-sponge-a-big-shift-in-cell-therapy-with-yev-brudno-unc","published_at":"2026-02-03T16:28:28+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mendelspod-podcast-742570/a-simple-sponge-a-big-shift-in-cell-therapy-with-yev-brudno-unc","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mendelspod-podcast-742570","url":"https://www.mendelspod.com/p/a-simple-sponge-a-big-shift-in-cell","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/184229654/62224565fe0e72b83c34c92bd46c65a5.mp3","summary":"What if the hardest part of scaling cell therapy turned out to be a materials problem not a biological one—and the solution looked like a sponge? On today’s show, Theral speaks with Yev Brudno , Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy and also the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about a deceptively simple technology that could dramatically accelerate manufacturing and lower the cost of cell therapies. Brudno’s lab works at the intersection of chemistry, biomaterials, and cell biology, with a focus on removing the manufacturing and scalability barriers that have kept powerful therapies like CAR-T out of reach for most patients. At the center of the conversation is a dry, porous biomaterial sponge—developed initially by accident—that boosts viral transduction efficiency from roughly 10% to as high as 90% by forcing cells and viral vectors into intense, highly efficient contact. The sponge works across multiple delivery systems, including retroviruses, lentiviruses, AAVs, and even lipid nanoparticles, effectively functioning as a low-cost, scalable alternative to complex microfluidic systems. Brudno explains how this discovery reframes genetic modification as a physical- and materials-science problem rather than a purely biological one. The discussion goes beyond mechanism into real-world impact. Brudno describes how these sponges—now commercialized for research use by Takara Bio USA—could compress weeks-long CAR-T manufacturing workflows into hours, enabling bedside or community-hospital cell engineering without the need for $100-million cleanroom facilities. The episode closes with a broader reflection on the future of cell therapy. Once again, some of the most transformative advances might come from curious…","meta_description":"What if the hardest part of scaling cell therapy turned out to be a materials problem not a biological one—and the solution looked like a sponge? On today…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1840,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mendelspod-podcast-742570/episodes/a-simple-sponge-a-big-shift-in-cell-therapy-with-yev-brudno-unc/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mendelspod-podcast-742570/a-simple-sponge-a-big-shift-in-cell-therapy-with-yev-brudno-unc.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}