News

Aug 2022   The United Arab Emirates has a well established and officially sanctioned infrastructure for medical tourism. Approvals for biotherapies are more readily obtained than in many western nations, leading to a booming business in regenerative medicine. At the same time, regulations around the practice of regenerative medicine follow high quality standards and are strictly enforced. New this year, the UAE is requiring that cord blood banks which operate in their country must construct a laboratory and storage facility in their country.

Jul 2022   The ReCord study is backtracking childhood leukemia to the genetic mutations present in the child's cord blood at birth. Hopefully this knowledge can be used in the future to predict which children are predisposed to childhood cancer and prevent the diagnosis.

Jul 2022   The World Stem Cell Summit, in partnership with the Regenerative Medicine Foundation, has presented their 2022 Advocacy Award to Dr. Frances Verter & the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. 

Jun 2022   This May, Future Health celebrated its 20th anniversary. Starting from a small biotech lab, they have grown to encompass six subsidiaries in Europe and a global reach of 94 countries. In 2022, Future Health is set to open a new biobanking storage facility in Nottingham to meet increasing demand. The new facility will include green technologies as part of the Future Health commitment to our environment and sustainability.

Jun 2022   Kinetic Stem Cell Counting is the first technology that can directly count stem cells. It is based on the unique property of stem cells, that they are capable of asymmetric self-renewal. This makes it possible to run a computer simulation of a growing culture that determines the number of stem cells present. Once validated for a specified combination of cell type and culture conditions, Kinetic Stem Cell Counting provides a stem cell count after only 3 DAYS of cell culture. 

May 2022   In pursuit of cell therapy for their children, more parents are traveling to Mexico. Regenerative medicine treatments are legal in Mexico, but not all providers are following the existing laws. When evaluating "stem cell" clinics in Mexico, parents should look carefully at things like their licensing, where they get their cells, will you be treated by a medical doctor, is the procedure performed in a medical facility?

Apr 2022   One of the variations between different MSC therapeutics is hemocompatibility: the risk that a high dose MSC infusion will trigger a blood clot. There is increasing risk of thromboembolism with MSC infusions as the MSC source goes from bone marrow, to perinatal tissue, to adipose tissue. Research shows that the risk can be quantified by testing the MSCs for their expression of procoagulant tissue factor (TF/CD142). It is also important to raise awareness of this risk factor so that both patients and their caregivers will recognize the symptoms of thromboembolism and seek appropriate medical care.

Mar 2022   Stoke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In this case report from StemCyte, a stroke patient recovered after an infusion of matched cord blood on the 8th day after the stroke. The patient had been paralyzed on one side of his body, but he made a complete recovery and returned to independent living.

Mar 2022   A woman in New York was cured of HIV after receiving a transplant of cord blood that carried a genetic mutation for resistance to HIV. This is a medical breakthrough, but only those patients that have both HIV plus a blood cancer like leukemia or lymphoma will be candidates for this promising therapy. 

Feb 2022   Brodie was one of the first children in Australia to receive sibling cord blood as treatment for cerebral palsy. After receiving an infusion of cord blood cells from his baby sister Zoey, Brodie showed notable improvements in his motor skills.