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.
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.
