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Bright Future For Stem Cell Storage

May 21, 2011 by

The Bright Future for Stem Cell Storage

The human body is a temple of miracles. Cells, tissues, organs and systems, have never failed to impress even the most competent physician with the great wonders and mechanisms transpiring inside the human organism. The body has its own regulatory system, detoxifying system and healing system. These allow humans to survive in harsh conditions. For instance, human stem cells derived from newborn cord blood have been found beneficial in treating leukemia, cancer and has great potential for diabetes. These precursor cells can be implanted in areas with specific cellular malfunction since they can differentiate into alternative types of cells.CryoStem Future For Stem Cell Storage

Embryonic stem cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, an early transformation of the human zygote. From this type of cell, every kind of cardiac cell, pancreatic cell, bone cell or skin cell emanate. As a primordial building block, it has the capacity to grow into many other types of cells and tissues.

Adult stem cells are not considered “blank slates” like embryonic stem cells, but still possess many of the malleable characteristics and benefits of embryonic stem cells.  As such, harvesting these adult umbilical cord blood stem cells from the umbilical cord of an infant is growing to be a preventive action of parents and doctors. From there, these cells are collected, processed, tested and then cryopreserved in cryogenic storage tanks. Because of the miraculous capacity of stem cells, stem cell storage has grown to become a lucrative business for certified laboratories. Parents simply contact these stem cell storage companies before the date of delivery so they can become a client and receive a collection kit which they take to the hospital with them upon delivery. There is no payment for retrieval in most cases and it gives parents peace of mind.

Stem cell storage can also be considered by adults who want to prepare for possible diseases that might be remedied by adult stem cells. Instead of relying on cord blood, the stem cells are obtained from the bone marrow or even more convenient, the circulating peripheral blood. Bone marrow is usually taken from the hips where most bone marrow is concentrated.  This is a rather complicated, painful and expensive procedure.  A more convenient, painless and less expensive alternative is to collect adult peripheral blood through a routine blood draw in which the stem cells are increased, mobilized and collected at a specific time when they are said to be in plentiful numbers.  They are then collected, processed, tested and cryopreserved in a stem cell storage facility.

The storage of cells is a delicate process especially because they must remain viable indefinitely. A company must be able to store and secure it under controlled conditions in the hopes that these amazing cells will be used to possibly save a life one day.

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Choosing A Stem Cell Preservation Bank

May 21, 2011 by

Tips on choosing your stem cell preservation bank:

Stem cell preservation has significant therapeutic value. This is a procedure where stem cells are collected and then stored for use in the future to potentially treat not only health problems of the donor, but possibly also other qualified recipients.CryoStem Choosing Stem Cell Preservation Bank

Stem cell preservation should be considered before a person actually suffers from a disease.  As stem cell collections are not routinely carried out in hospitals, you have to first choose the storage bank with whom you wish to store your stem cells. The stem cell bank will then send you a stem cell collection kit for your doctor to use while collecting your specimen.  After the collection process, the specimen is shipped to your designated stem cell bank, where testing is performed on the sample before the stem cells are processed and cryopreserved.

There are many critical points to remember when choosing the right bank for your stem cell preservation.  Here is a critical list of questions:

  1. Are you licensed, registered, members of and/or compliant with, and in good standing with the following agencies:  FDA, CLIA, CAP, AABB, NY, NJ, CA, BBB?
  2. Do you test the blood specimen for infectious diseases?
  3. What sort of processing system do you use?  (Automated systems tend to yield higher rates of critical cells vs. manual methods.)
  4. What is your returning client rate?
  5. Is your return specimen kit safe for transport?
  6. Do you used heparin or a gentler anti-coagulant in your collection bag?
  7. Do you store in at least two compartments so that a specimen may be used more than once should expansion technologies improve?
  8. Do you store in bags or vials?
  9. What is your price? 
  10. What is your annual storage fee?
  11. Do you have 24/7 client support?
  12. How long have you been in business?
Filed Under: Stem Cell Preservation

Public And Private Cord Blood Banks

May 21, 2011 by

Public And Private Cord Blood Banks:

The reason cord blood storage is in the news in the science world today is because cord blood is a rich source of stem cells. This is the blood that is collected from the umbilical cord at the time of delivery. Once collected, cord blood is processed and stored for potential future usage.Public Private Cord Blood Banks

Some wonder why people actually consider collection and cord blood storage. This blood, however is full of stem cells, which proves to be very helpful in treating and curing many genetic and blood diseases.  Frequently, it is the expectant parent who has a family history of genetic diseases like severe anemia, some forms of cancer such as leukemia or immune disorders, who consider cord blood storage.

Of course, the incidence of families suffering from such risk factors is relatively infrequent; about 1 person in 20,000 people. However, cord blood that is collected can not only be used

by the family, but also by other HLA matched unrelated patients in need of stem cells. Should one decide to publically donate their cord blood, it could potential be used to help cure or treat some other person suffering from a fatal disease. 

Before considering cord blood storage in a public bank for use by others, it is important to know the responsibilities and implications of this donation.

Once a cord blood specimen is donated to a public bank, the family relinquishes all rights to their specimen.  It is no longer available only to that family, but instead, to all families in need.  Should a family need their cord blood specimen in the future, there is no guarantee that specimen will still be available.

Private cord blood storage processes and stores a family’s cord blood specimen exclusively for that family.  The cord blood is only able to be retrieved by the family member that established the account, but the specimen can be used for anyone in the family for whom it is a match.  With this assurance of availability comes a price.  Private cord blood banks charge anywhere from approximately $1,000 to $2,000 for this service with any added fee for medical courier transport to their laboratory and an added annual storage fee of $115-$125.  A lower enrollment fee generally means that the company is utilizing a manual processing system.  This is not true in all cases, so be sure to ask.  Manual processing has been shown to yield a lower rate of critical cells.  Many companies are now using automation or closed bag systems which historically have recovered higher rates of critical cells.

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