Carlsbad-based Life Technologies, the developer of life sciences tools and equipment, said today that it has signed a collaborative research agreement with Harvard University. Life Technologies said the deal covered stem cell research technology, which will be offered on its semiconductor sequencing and PCR-based genetic analysis platform. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Life Technologies said it specifically acquired rights to develop a panel of characterization assays designed to rapidly evaluate human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells for their utility in a variety of discovery and translational research applications.