Branson's new Virgin business to store stem cells

William Atkins
Monday, 29 January 2007 21:33

Science - Biology

Though widespread controversy exists over the creation and use of stem cells, scientists are hopeful that stem cell research and technology will help cure cell-disruptive diseases.

Stem cells are unspecialized, immature blood cells that produce all other blood cells such as platelets (thrombocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), and white blood cells (leucocytes). Thus, they are found in all multi-cellular organisms. When given specific conditions, stem cells can develop (replicate themselves through cell division) into groups of specialized types of mature cells (body tissues). Stem cells are also critical to the development of a single cell into a mature organism such as an adult human.

This replicating action makes stem cells important to scientists because they can be used to replace damaged or destroyed cells within humans inflicted with cell-degenerative diseases and injuries such as cancers, heart disease, diabetes, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and spinal cord injuries. Biological scientists are confident they can develop ways to control these specific stem cell conditions in order to develop new medical therapies for such degenerative diseases.

There are three types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells (from simple structures called blastocysts found in embryos of mammals), adult stem cells (found in the tissues of adults), and cord blood stem cells (found in the umbilical cord between baby and mother).

The cold-storage of blood from newborns, like in Branson’s new business, saves human blood from the placenta or umbilical cord after the baby's birth. Rich in hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cells the blood easily adapts in the body so that it can replace damaged or diseased cells. Similarly, medical teams performing bone marrow transplants for leukemia patients use such a process.

Branson’s venture will use cord blood stem cells, which are called cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs) within the medical community. This type of stem cell, derived from umbilical cord blood, was discovered in 2005 by medical researchers at Kingston University in London, England. To date, umbilical cord blood is used to treat over 45 genetic disorders that adversely affect the blood and immune system, some cancers and leukemia, and various inherited disorders.

Besides Branson’s new venture, other companies also provide services to parents to store their newborn baby’s cord blood.

Learn more about the basics of stem cells at: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/.

The Web site of The Virgin Group is: http://www.virgin.com/.