IAS Nobel Lecture: Stem Cell Therapy Centre Automation and Safety (Rescheduled from March 19, 2025 to March 24, 2025)

Abstract
Healthcare is undergoing a revolution empowered by advancement in several areas:

1. Artificial intelligence in healthcare and anti-aging, leading to personalized healthcare & healthy longevity,
2. Cellular / genetic treatments, particularly via stem cells,
3. A deeper understanding of cell functions and growth signals, and
4. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and gene editing, particularly CRISPR/Cas9 technology is revolutionizing genetic interventions and treatments. 

More than 5,000 gene therapy trials are listed with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including an increase in many new trials incorporating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies and human genomic editing. There are many more trials taking place globally. There are many more worldwide. Robotic surgeons and diagnostic doctors exceed human capabilities and we are in the early stages of this development. Stem cell therapies will be the typical treatment for many aging and developing ailments. Creating an automated and safe system requires a true understanding of the stem cell therapy process, which is in fairly early stages currently, and then automating more efficient and safe automated therapy manufacturing lines. It is clear that the large cryopreservation systems need to be protected against the background terrestrial and cosmic ray secondary ionizing radiation. This is likely to involve large caverns under 500 meters of rock with radiation shielding concrete liners, as well as testing and selecting low-radiation storage and manufacturing equipment. This requires AI systems, careful engineering, and a bit of definition by physicists and chemists.