We're two people who got frustrated with a preventable problem.
The stem cell reproducibility crisis isn't a mystery — it's a tooling failure. We're building the tool that should have existed already.
Our Mission
Approximately 50% of stem cell experiments cannot be reproduced. The leading cause is poor reporting — papers that omit critical experimental details, skip cell authentication, or leave out the information another lab would need to replicate the work. Cell misauthentication is a major contributor, but it's part of a broader pattern of incomplete documentation.
Our mission is to eliminate these failure modes by giving stem cell researchers a dedicated lab inventory and authentication system — one that makes correct practice the default, not the exception.
Better data integrity in the lab means better science out of it. And better science means faster, more reliable paths to therapies that actually reach patients.
"The reproducibility crisis isn't a people problem. It's a systems problem — and systems problems have solutions."
— Eric Konynenbelt & Ethan Ferguson, Co-Founders
Our Story
Dandelion started with a straightforward observation: the tools stem cell researchers rely on for lab management weren't built for stem cell research. Generic LIMS platforms and spreadsheets don't enforce authentication workflows. They don't prompt for passage numbers. They don't flag when a cell line hasn't been re-authenticated in six months.
Eric and Ethan came together around the shared conviction that this gap was fixable — and that fixing it would have an outsized impact on the quality and reliability of published research. A dedicated tool, purpose-built around the specific needs of stem cell labs, could make reproducibility the path of least resistance rather than an afterthought.
Dandelion is early-stage and we're actively talking to researchers to shape the product. If you work in a stem cell lab and want to weigh in on what we build, we'd love to hear from you.
What We Stand For
Reproducibility as a First Principle
Every feature we build is evaluated against one question: does this make it easier to reproduce an experiment exactly? If not, we don't build it.
Built With Researchers, Not Just For Them
We spend time in labs. We watch how scientists actually work — not how they're supposed to work — and design around real workflows.
Rigorous by Default
Reporting standards and authentication best practices are built into the product, not bolted on. Good science should be the path of least resistance.
Transparent & Open
We're honest about what the platform can and can't do. We'd rather under-promise and solve a real problem than over-sell and add to the noise.
The Team
Eric Konynenbelt
Co-Founder
Eric brings a background in software engineering and a deep interest in applying rigorous systems thinking to biological research infrastructure. He leads product and engineering at Dandelion.
Ethan Ferguson
Co-Founder
Ethan's expertise spans stem cell biology and laboratory operations. He identified the cell authentication problem firsthand and is the driving scientific voice behind Dandelion's design.