News

Feb 2015   Cord blood banking, both public and private, has illustrated the power of having needed stem cells available for potential use. It is clear that stem cells that are identical to your own are the best, followed by those from near relatives, followed by those from donors who carry the same HLA phenotype. By best I mean that the body does not initiate a process of rejection against them.

Jan 2015   The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA was first formed in 1906, but in 1938 then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a new Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) which greatly increased the power of the FDA. Soon after 1938, the FDA began to designate certain drugs as safe for use only under the supervision of a medical professional, and this category of "prescription-only" drugs was securely codified into law by the 1951 Durham-Humphrey Amendment.

Jan 2015   The Cord Blood Association (CBA) is a new trade and professional association for cord blood banking founded in September 2014. The CBA will be an international nonprofit organization that promotes the banking and use of umbilical cord blood and related tissues for disease treatment and regenerative therapies. Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells that can be used for restoring health in a variety of chronic diseases.

Dec 2014   Nina and Zach Miller were the first parents from the United States to take their daughter Josephine, who has cerebral palsy, to South Korea for therapy with donated cord blood. Theirs is not another story about parents seeking an unproven stem cell therapy - perhaps with stem cells of uncertain provenance - at a for-profit overseas clinic. The Millers traveled to an established medical research center, the CHA Bundang Medical Center in Seoul S. Korea, to participate in a registered clinical trial led by MinYoung Kim, MD PhD.

Dec 2014   Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) is a common and serious complication following a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor. GvHD is divided into acute and chronic form according to the clinical course and time of the diagnosis. It is a life-threatening condition, which contributes greatly to early mortality after stem cell transplants. Survivors may suffer organ damage and have impaired quality of life.

Nov 2014   Thalassemias are blood disorders passed down through families (inherited) in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Thalassemia disorders result in large numbers of red blood cells being destroyed, which leads to anemia.

Nov 2014   Very early in the field of cord blood banking, laboratories that process cord blood for storage began removing most of the plasma (plasma depletion) and the red blood cells (RBC depletion) before cryopreserving the remaining component of the blood that holds the stem cells.

Oct 2014   A suitable cord blood match (HLA match of 4 out of 6 or better) is available from Be The Match for nearly every US patient under age 20 and for more than 80% of patients age 20 and over, regardless of racial or ethnic background. The challenge at this point is how best to apply the limited resources of the Be The Match organization to find matches for the remaining patients, who are predominantly ethnic minorities and mixed race individuals.

Oct 2014   Canada has the most ethnically diverse population in all of the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrialised countries (1). Over 20% of Canada's population is foreign-born, with representation from almost 200 countries. Among those who arrived since 2001, almost 60% are from Asia (including the Middle East). Currently, 20% of the population identify themselves as members of a visible minority, which accounts for over 6 million people. The median age of this group, 33.4 years, is within the child-bearing years.

Sep 2014   Cord blood banking can preserve viable stem cells for decades if the cryogenic nitrogen tanks are maintained at a constant very low temperature.