Stem cells come from many parts of the human body. Take mesenchymal stem cells as an example. They can come from bone marrow, umbilical cord, placenta or fat. The most common storage method is to store mesenchymal stem cells in umbilical cord and placenta of newborn.
It is found that the umbilical cord placenta brought by newborns is very rich in stem cells. For example, umbilical cord-derived stem cells account for 5% to 10%, mainly mesenchymal stem cells; Stem cells from placenta account for about 90%, including a large number of hematopoietic stem cells and rich mesenchymal stem cells. Moreover, the use and extraction of stem cells have no harm to newborns and mothers, and they have very good effects and potential in intervening various refractory and severe diseases, so they are also called human backup devices!
2. What is the use of storing stem cells?
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the "raw materials" with high adoption rate in the medical field at present, and have great application potential in anti-aging, improving health level, immune regulation, tissue and organ repair, regenerative medicine, and coping with various refractory diseases in the future.
At present, more than 10 stem cell drugs have been approved for marketing in the world, most of which are related to mesenchymal stem cells. In addition, the clinical research of stem cells involves hundreds of diseases, such as stem cells intervening osteoarthrosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, retinopathy, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc.
3. How to choose a reliable storage institution?
Because the preservation environment of stem cells in placenta and umbilical cord is related to the health of babies and their families all their lives, when choosing stem cell preservation institutions, we must choose institutions with core cell technology patents, authoritative certification and "Industry-University-Research" integration for preservation. Moreover, stem cells also have particularly high requirements and standards for their living environment. For example, the collected stem cell samples must be kept in sterile, specially-made heat preservation containers and transported under specific temperature and conditions to ensure the activity of seed cells; The preparation has strict requirements on the laboratory environment and the skills of laboratory personnel. These details are related to the quality of stem cell storage.